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Mother Nature's 

Toy- Shop 



Mother Nature's 

Toy-Shop 



By 

UNA BEARD AND ADELIA B. BEARD 



With Many Illustrations 
by the Authors 



Charles Scribner's Sons 

New York Chicago Boston 



Copyright, 19 i8, by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



SPECIAL NOTICE 
All the material in this book, both text and cuts, is original with the 
authors and invented by them; and warning is hereby given that the 
unauthorized printing of any portion of the text and the reproduc- 
tion of any of the illustrations or diagrams are expressly forbidden. 



MAY 29 1918 




PRESENTATION 

Mother Nature is every bit as fond of the little folks 
in her human family as of the grown-ups, and while she 
prepares untold joys for lovers of the outdoors among men 
and women and larger boys and girls, she never forgets 
the little ones. 

For their benefit she keeps an open toy-shop full of mar- 
vellous playthings, all free to any child who wants them, 
and instead of the children paying her for what they take 
she pays them for coming to her by giving them rosier 
cheeks, brighter eyes, and stronger bodies. She puts more 
glee into their laughter and greater happiness into their 
trustful Httle hearts. 

As in the large department stores in big cities, the goods 
in Mother Nature's shop are changed for each season of 
the year; so the Httle shoppers have constant variety and 
hail every new season with fresh dehght. This book is 
written to call attention to the beautiful and wonderful 
things to be found in Mother Nature's toy-shop and to 
tell what to do with them, for one must know how to use 
the amusing material that is furnished. 

After really getting into this most enchanting of all toy- 
shops with eyes open to see its wonders, we found that the 
difficulty to be met was not how to write about them, but 
how to stop writing. The display was so varied and so 
inviting, it seemed that we must tell the children about 
everything we saw, but if we had gone on seeing more and 
telling more there is no saying what size this book would 
have been. 

LiNA Beard, 
Adelia Belle Beard. 



CONTENTS 

PART I— WILD FLOWERS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Daisies i 

II. Jack-in-the-Pulpit 5 

III. Red and White Clovers 8 

IV. Clover Designs 12 

V. Other Wild-Flower Designs 19 

VI. PUSSY-WILLOWS 24 

VII. Arrangement of Flowers . ; 33 

PART II— GRASSES 

VIII. Fairy-Trees Made op Grasses . 40 

IX. A House Made or Grass 45 

X. Grass Dress and Grass Head-Dress 56 

PART III— GREEN LEAVES 

XL Oak-Leaves 61 

XII. Grape-Leaf Drinking-Cup 68 

XIII. Green-Leaf Designs 71 

vii 



viii Contents 

PART IV— CULTIVATED FLOWERS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIV. Phlox 76 

XV. Cultivated Foxglove 81 

XVI. Miss Hollyhock's Garden-Party 88 

XVII. Daffodils 92 

PART V— SEED-VESSELS 

XVIII. Seed- Vessel Playthings 96 

XIX. Buckeye Horse and Buckeye Rider 103 

XX. Burdock-Burrs 108 

XXI. Things to Make of English- Walnut Shells . 117 

PART VI— VEGETABLES 

XXII. Things You can Make of Lima Beans ... 123 

XXIII. Sweet-Potato Alligator and What to Make 

OF A Radish 130 

XXIV. Green-Pea Toys and a Green-Pea Design . . 136 
XXV. Corn-Husks and Corn-Cobs 148 

PART VII— FRUIT 

XXVI. The Funny Orange-Head 163 

XXVII. Apples and Apple Fun 171 



Mother Nature's 

Toy- Shop 



PARTI 
WILD FLOWERS 

CHAPTER I 

DAISIES 

What You Can Do with Them 

Wild flowers, like children, are up early. They don't 
want to lie abed after their long winter's sleep; they want 
to be awake and see what is going on in the world. While 
you think it is still winter there is a stirring going on 
under the blankets of brown earth, and sometimes before 
the snow is off the ground you may find the Httle things 
working up through the stiff soil and opening their eyes 
to the gentle spring sunshine. 

It is remarkable the way the soft, tender sprouts force 
their way through hard ground that we would have to 
take a knife or trowel to dig into. But they do it. Not 
all at once with a great, blustering rush, but gently, stead- 
ily, and quietly they push and keep on pushing until 
their heads are above ground; then they begin to grow in 
good earnest, and pretty soon they laugh right out into 
blossom. 

The pleasure these earliest wild flowers give us is in 
going out to look for them and in gathering handfuls to 
carry home and put into Httle glass bowls to be **Oh'd" 
over and wondered at, to be admired and loved because 
they are lovely, and because they bring some of the sweet 
outdoors of Spring into the furnace-heated house. 

They are too delicate and fragile, these anemones, 

1 



2 



Wild Flowers 



hepaticas, and bloodroots, to be handled and played 
with, but later come the stronger, sturdier flowers and with 
many of these you can do all sorts of entertaining things. 
You don't have to look very far for them either. They 
are in the fields, by the roadsides, and even along the edges 
of the streets of a village or small town. You won't find 
them in the city. 

To begin with, there are the daisies. How white the 
fields are with them ! If they are fine, large daisies on 
tall, strong stems they will reach up to your waist — that 
is, if you are a little girl. If you are bigger they will come 




Flg.l - Begin the wreath In this way. 



lPlg.2 - Turn the stem of B under 
the stem of A. 



well above your knees. There are a number of things 
that you can do with them. First, you can make a really 
beautiful 



Daisy Crown 

for a May queen, or to wear yourself just for the fun of it. 

Gather a whole lot of daisies with rather long stems. 

They will stay fresh longer if you put them into a pail of 

cool water and let them drink a Httle before using them; 



Daisies 




Fig. 3 - Bi'lng B around and In front 
of it 8 own upright. 



and if they have wilted while you carried them, the water 

will bring them up again as fresh as — why, as fresh as a 

daisy to be sure. This 
is the way to make the 
crown. It is a new 
way and a good way. 

Take one daisy in 
your left hand and 
hold it, not upright 
but in what is called 
a horizontal position 

like the one marked A in Fig. i, then with your right 

hand hold another daisy upright and place its stem in 

front of and across 

the stem of the first, 

as you see it in Fig. i. 
This second daisy 

we will call B. Now 

turn the stem of B 

under the stem of A 

and up at the back as 

., . . T7.« -n • Pig. 4 • Let the stem of B rest on 
It IS m Fig. 2. Brmg *" the stem of A. 





this same stem, B, 
around and in 
front of its own 
upright part like 
Fig. 3. Turn it 
all the way around 
the upright part 
and let the stem of 
B rest on top of 
the stem of A. Fig. 4 shows this, but in the drawing the 
stems are separated a little so that you may see each one 
plainly. It is something like weaving, you see. And it 
is weaving of a sort. 



Pig. 5 - Weave another daisy, C, on 
the first two stems. 



4 Wild Flowers 

Across the stems of the daisies A and B, two stems 
this time, place the stem of another daisy that we will 
call C, and weave it on the first two stems exactly as you 
wove B onto A (Fig. 5). The stem of the fourth daisy 
will have to cross three stems, A, B, and C. The fifth 
daisy-stem will cross four stems, but after that the end 
of the daisy-stem A will probably have been passed and 
you will be weaving on the others. It depends upon the 
length of the stems how many are woven over; sometimes 




S!ig.6 « A. neir vay to make a Daisy Wreath. 

there may be five. It is not well to have more than that 
number. You can cut a stem off when it seems to be go- 
ing too far around the crown. 

Place the daisies close enough together to have their 
petals touch, or even crowd a trifle, because when the 
crown is curved and the ends brought together the flowers 
will separate and leave wider spaces. When you have 
woven enough daisies to make your crown the proper size 
to fit your head, cut the last stems off about two inches 
from the last flower and, with a strong blade of grass or 
piece of string, tie them to the stem of the daisy A, just 
back of the flower. Fig. 6 shows what the daisy crown 
looks like when finished. 



CHAPTER II 

JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT 

One of the earliest wild flowers to show its head above 
ground is Jack-in- the-pulpit. It is an odd plant and what 
we call the flower is not the blossom at all, but a protect- 
ing leaf called a spathe which surrounds the tiny flowers 
growing on the club-shaped spike (or spadix) standing up- 
right inside. 

That is a good thing to know and remember, but what 
concerns us now is that there is a pulpit with its curved 
sounding-board — or perhaps it is a striped awning — over- 
head, and that in the pulpit is Jack. 

He is a cheerful little preacher and his pulpit is some- 
what gayer than we usually see, but no one ever told Jack 
that to be good he must be solemn and that to preach he 
must have a pulpit rich and sombre. The good God who 
made him gave him his pretty, striped pulpit with its 
striped awning to shelter it, and Jack goes on preaching 
his cheerful sermons from this as long as he lives. Hear 
what some one has said of him: 

"Jack-in- the- Pulpit preaches to-day, 
Under the green trees, just over the way; 
Squirrel and Song- Sparrow high on their perch, 
Hear the sweet lily-bells ringing to church. 

"Come, hear what his reverence rises to say. 
In his low, painted pulpit, this calm Sabbath day. 
Fair is the canopy over him seen 

Pencilled by Nature's hand, black, brown, and green." 
5 



6 



Wild Flowers 



Some people who love the woods and the wild flowers 
can understand Jack's wild-wood language. They will 
tell you that over and over again he is saying: ''Come into 
the clean, shady woods and learn to love all the wonderful 
living, growing things to be found here. Come into the 

green woods and hear what we 
can tell you of beauty and 
love and kindness; of courage 
and perseverance and strength, 
for plants must have courage 
and perseverance as well as 
strength in order to live." 

All the time these plants are 
working in the ground and 
above it to make their flowers 
perfect and their seeds fruitful. 
Sometimes it is difficult work, 
too, if the soil does not give 
them enough food, or a dry 
summer chokes them with 
thirst. Sometimes they must 
struggle hard to gain a footing 
between the rocks where they 
were told to grow, or to keep 
from being crowded out by 
stronger, coarser plants that 
are called weeds. 

But they keep on trying to 
do their part and to do it 
well; they work and love, and their children, the blossoms, 
laugh, laugh, laugh with the happiness of it all. 

Now if Jack seems to you to stand too still in his pul- 
pit while he preaches all this, why you can make him 
move around. He can turn first to one side then to the 
other, and he can lean forward over the front with ex- 




Pig,7 - Cut a liol.e at the back 
of the Pulpit. 



Jack-in-the-Pulpit 




Pig. 8 - The Spike. 



tended arms as some preachers do when they are very 

much in earnest. 

For this you will first have to cut a hole at the back of 
the pulpit near the bottom, as is shown 
in Fig. 7, th-en, slipping your knife inside, 
cut Jack loose from the flower and drop 
him out from the top by turning the 
pulpit upside down. 

Cut off the lower, thin part of the 
spike to which the arrow points in Fig. 8 
and, after puncturing a deep hole in the 
end, push in a very slender twig or grass- 
stem. Fig. 9 shows how this is done. 
For arms that will make Jack seem more 
like a little man, push a short piece of 
grass- stem through the spike near the 

top where you see it in Fig. 9. Make 

a hole all the way through the spike 

with a pin so that the arms will slip 

in easily. 

When you are ready for Jack to 

preach put him in his pulpit, sliding 

the grass-stem through the hole at 

the back. While you hold the stem 

of the pulpit in one hand take the 

grass-stem in the other and, by mov- 
ing it up and' down, twisting it one 

way, then the other, and tipping it 

up, you can make him rise up tall 

and straight, then sink down; you 

can make him turn to the right and 

to the left and lean forward. That 

is being active enough in such a 

small pulpit, isn't it? Pig.s , this is jaok. 



ffl 



CHAPTER III 

RED AND WHITE CLOVERS 

By the roadside, through the meadows, on the farm, at 
the cottage door, and in your own yard those dear, famil- 
iar Httle friends, the clover-blossoms, come to greet you. 
Even in city parks you may find them, and always they 
are ready and glad to help you have a good time. Gather 
a lot of these flowers and sit in the shade under a tree 
with your lap filled with them while I tell you how to 
make a 

Clover Wreath 

Select some long-stemmed blossoms and leaves, bunch 
them and bind their stems together their full length with 
strong grass or string. Wind the grass around and around 
the stems, tucking the ends securely in under the last 
wind. You may need several long blades of grass for 
binding one bunch. 

In the same way make a second bunch and fit the flowers 
up close against the first bunch of blossoms, with their 
stems lying along the side of the first stems. Do not lap 
the flowers of one bunch over the flowers of another. 
Fasten the second bunch in place by binding the stems to 
those of the first bunch; then make a third bunch and bind 
it on next to the second bunch. Continue making these 
clover bunches and binding their stems to the stems of 
those already a part of the wreath until the strip is long 
enough to fit around your head. Try it on and, if it is 
the proper length, join the two ends by binding the last 

8 



Red and White Clovers 



9 



stems to the stems of the first bunches. Fig. lo shows the 
clover wreath complete. 
You should also have a 

Clover Bracelet 

to wear with the wreath. Make this as you did the 
wreath but with much smaller bunches. Keep binding 












Flg.lO - Wreath of freshly picked Clover. 

the bunches together until the strip for the bracelet fits 
your arm (Fig. ii), then join the two ends, and slip the 
pretty thing on your wrist. Of course, you will want 



Clover Earrings 

to match, and those two plump, full, fresh blossoms lying 
at the top of the others on your lap are exactly what you 
need. 



10 



Wild Flowers 



Take one of these clovers and fit it in tight between 
your cheek and the lobe of your ear (Fig. 12). Be careful 
not to break the long stem, for you must bring it up snugly 
just back of your ear along the line where the ear joins 





Pig. IS - Clover iBlossom ring 



Pig. 11 - Clover Tjracelet. 







^ 

^■^ 



r 




Pig. 12 - Clover ear-ring. 



Pig. 14 - Clover Blossom pendant 
on Clover necklace. 



your head, and when this is done, bend the end of the stem 
down gently over the top of your ear. The stem will hold 
your earring in place. Make the other earring in the same 
way. The two clover-blossoms used for the earrings should 
be as much alike as possible both in size and shape. They 



Red and White Clovers 11 

should be matched carefully, as pearls and diamonds are 
matched in a pair of real earrings. 
Now for a '' solitaire '^ 

Clover Ring 

Choose the finest clover for the jewel, and hold it against 
the back of your left forefinger while you wrap the stem 
once around the finger, loop it over the blossom and draw 
the loop tight. Fasten the end by tucking it under and 
over, and again under the stem ring on your finger. This 
clover ring is really very effective, and can be made of any 
colored clover. Fig. 13 gives an idea of how it looks. 

A Necklace of Clover 

will complete your beautiful set of flower jewelry. Make 
the necklace as you made- the bracelet and fasten three 
pendant blossoms at the centre, allowing the middle clover 
to -hang down a little below those on either side (Fig. 14). 
Now you are ready, with the addition of a long, straight 
twig, at the top of which you have fastened a bouquet of 
clover, to play that you are queen of all the clover fairies, 
and that your clover- tipped twig is your magic wand. 

Other Things of Clover 

The running, vinelike clovers are fine to use for climb- 
ing-roses on outdoor doll-houses. They can also be trained 
over the doll garden-frames and arches. 



CHAPTER IV 

CLOVER DESIGNS 

Have you ever admired the pretty patterns on wall- 
paper of flowers and green leaves? Have you ever em- 
broidered dainty designs in colors on white linen, and do 
you love it all? If you do, you will like to make some de- 
signs yourself in a new way, and with real flowers and real 
leaves. 

You don't have to know how to draw or to paint 
in this designing, for the flowers are there ready for you 
to use, more exquisitely drawn and colored than the 
greatest artist could do them. Your part is to group and 
arrange them on a sheet of paper so that they will form 
beautiful designs; designs that will not only delight you, 
but that may be copied in embroidery or in other ways. 

Merely to place the flowers on the paper in some sort 
of a pattern is interesting, but the design won't last be-, 
cause the flowers won't stay in place. Your sleeve may 
wipe them all off, or a puff of air blow them away, so a 
method has been invented especially for you that will keep 
them where you want them to stay, and that method is 
simply to paste them there. 

You can make designs of almost any kind of flowers, 
the common pink-and-white clover that grows underfoot 
nearly everywhere makes a particularly pretty one. This 
is the long-stemmed, viny kind, and its name is alsike 
clover. Fig. 15 shows what the alsike clover looks like, 
and you will see that its leaves are rather pointed at the 
tip, and shaped more like the leaves of the large red clover 
than like the almost round ones of the little white clover. 

12 




Pig. 16 - Upright design of Alslke Clover. 



Fig. 15 - The Ala Ike Clover. Deep rosQ 
col or. The way it grows., 



14 



Wild Flowers 



The graceful, upright design (Fig. i6) was made of the 
alsike clover, the blossom of which was a deep-rose color, 
and the original design when finished looked like a piece 
of embroidery done in silks. It was so lovely I wish that 
it could be given in its natural colors here. 





Pig. 17 - Parts of upright Clover design. 



Look at Fig. i6 carefully and see that while the sprays 
of clover at the right and left appear to be exactly alike, 
though turned in opposite directions, they are not really 
so, and the Httle differences help to make the design in- 
teresting. They keep it from being what we call monoto- 
nous. Now look at D, E, and F, Fig. 17. These are trac- 
ings of the sprays of clover before they were grouped 
together to form the design Fig. 16. The spray on the left, 
marked D, is just as it grew and as it was used in the 
finished design; but F, on the right, had to have the Httle 
budded spray added at the place on the stem shown by 



Clover Designs 



15 



the arrows to make it resemble and balance the other. 
This bud with its leaves was clipped from another clover- 
vine. 
The spray in the centre of the design was like E, Fig. 




Fig. 18 - Running design of Clover. 

17, and it was necessary to give it the extra leaves shown at 
its right because, without them, it was not symmetrical, 




Pig. 19 - Parts of riinnlng design. 



which means evenly balanced, and it would not have 
looked well in the design. 
When all of the material was collected and ready to be 



16 



Wild Flowers 



put together, the central spray, E, was laid in the middle 
of a sheet of unruled, white paper with the lower end of 
the stem near the bottom edge, then the sprays D and F 
were placed on the right and left of the centre one and tried 
first in one position, then in another, until it was decided 
that they looked best arranged as in Fig. i6. After that 




Pig. 20 - Large Red Clover design. 



the extra leaves for the middle spray, and the bud and its 
leaves for the right-hand spray, were put in place. 

It all seemed charmingly satisfactory, so the design was 
taken apart that it might be fastened permanently in place. 
The middle spray had to be adjusted first, and a drop of 
good library paste was put on the under- side of the clover- 
blossom, a drop on the under part of each leaf, and on the 
under part of the stem at the lower end. Then the spray 
was laid in the middle of the paper just where it was at 
first, and pressed down to make it stick. Paste was put 




Pig. 21 - Design of leaves and buds of Red Clover. 




Pig* 2^ - Parts of leaf and "bud design. 



18 Wild Flowers 

on the under part of each of the three leaves to be added 
and on the under part of their stem at the end, and they 
were pasted down to look as if growing on the main stem, 
opposite the other leaves. 

Next the left-hand spray was pasted in place in the 
same way, then the right-hand spray; to which was given 
its bud that curves in to almost touch the bud on the other 
spray. Paste was also put half-way down on the under 
part of the long stems of each of the side sprays. 

This completed the clover design and it was exceedingly 
pretty, but after it had been sufficiently admired it was 
placed between papers under several heavy books to press, 
that it might be more durable. It was after it had been 
pressed that it looked like a piece of silk embroidery. 

Pasted designs can be made without pressing; but while 
they are more beautiful they will not last as long as the 
others. You can enjoy your fresh designs for a while and 
then press them. Do not make the mistake of covering 
the entire under part of a flower or leaf with paste as if 
it were made of paper; a drop is all that is needed, more 
will spoil it. 

Flowers do not always grow exactly as you want them 
for your designs, but a too straight stem can be coaxed 
to curve by drawing it between your fingers, and leaves 
and sprays can be cut away or added as has been shown. 
All this changing about only makes it more fun to work 
out the design. 

^c Fig. 1 8 is a running design of clovers which can be used 
for a border. The little arrows on Fig. 19 show where the 
different parts are joined. 

The large red clover was used for the design Fig. 20 and 
the leaves and buds of the red clover for Fig. 21. Fig. 
22 shows how the parts of Fig. 21 are put together. These 
drawings are all original from designs actually made of 
fresh clover-blossoms and their foliage. 



CHAPTER V 

OTHER WILD-FLOWER DESIGNS 

Daisy Fleabane Design 

Isn't the design Fig. 23 what grown-ups call Japanesque ? 
Doesn't it look as if it had been copied from a printed 
pattern on a piece of Japanese cotton cloth? 




Pig. 23 - Daisy Fleabane design. 

Well, it was not. It is from a design made especially 
for you of real wild flowers, freshly gathered. The name 
of the flower is the daisy fleabane which grows in almost 
all open grassy fields where daisies and buttercups and 
clovers are found. * 

The illustration Fig. 24 shows how the daisy fleabane 

19 



20 Wild Flowers 

looks when first gathered. Sometimes the blossom is en- 
tirely white, sometimes it is tinged with purple, and it has 
a bright-yellow centre. Its petals are as fine as a fringe, 
like those of the asters that blossom in the fall. 

In making the design the full-blown flowers were pressed 
down flat, which makes them round like a sunflower, 
while the buds and partly open flowers were left as they 
naturally grew. The composition, or arrangement, of this 
design is like that used for the upright clover design (Fig. 




Fig. 25 - Wild Mustard design, 

1 

i6), that is, it has two tall side sprays and a shorter middle 
spray; but see how very different the two designs are in 
appearance. The clover is all graceful curves, the daisy 
fleabane is stiff and formal with straight lines and angles. 
If you use the white flower, make the design on a sheet 
of tinted paper, else the flower will not show. All white 
flowers should have tinted paper for a background. 

Wild Mustard Design 

The small, yellow blossoms of the wild mustard and 
its compound leaves make very dainty designs. Fig. 25 
is one of them. 

From the drawing of the wild mustard (Fig. 26) you will 
see that the flowers do not grow close to the leaves as they 
are placed in this design, but on tall stems which lift them 




Fig. 26 - Wild Mustard. 



Fig. 24 - The Daisy FleaUane 
grows like this. 



22 



Wild Flowers 



far above the scattered leaf-sprays. The design Fig. 25 
was made by cutting off a number of flower-clusters and 
leaves, and grouping first one flower-cluster and one leaf- 
spray together, with the ends of their stems touching, then 

another flower-cluster 
and another leaf-spray. 
The arrows in Fig. 27 
show where the stems 
are brought together, 
and the design Fig. 25 
shows how the joining 
of the first two is cov- 
ered with one of the 
small leaves of the sec- 
ond leaf-spray, and how 
the joining of the second two is hidden under a leaf of the 
third leaf-spray, and so on. 

There are four flower-clusters and five leaf-sprays in 
the design. You can have as many as you wish but must 
end them with a leaf-spray. 

Buttercups — a Design 

Buttercups are so beautifully golden, so glossy and 
bright, you would think they could be made into many 




Pig. 27 - Pa[rts of Wild Mustard design. 




Pig. 28 - Buttercup design. 



Other Wild-Flower Designs 23 

nice things, a gold necklace for instance. And so they 
could if they only would not wilt almost as soon as they 
are gathered. To be sure, they will revive and freshen up 
when put in water if they are not too much wilted, but 
we cannot make them into jewelry while their stems are 
in water. 

Still there is something buttercups can be used for, and 
that is designs. Fig. 28 is a drawing from the simplest 
kind of a buttercup design but a pretty one. It shows 
five wide-open blossoms placed in a row at equal distances 
apart with a little spray of leaves and bud at the lower 
end of each stem. These sprays do not grow as they are 
in the design but are added after the flowers are placed 
in a row. 

As in all other designs, each flower, bud, and stem is 
touched with paste on the under-side to hold it in place 
on the paper. A design like Fig. 28 should be pressed after 
it is arranged, and it will last a long while and keep its 
bright color. A number of other and very beautiful de- 
signs can be made of the common wild buttercup. 



CHAPTER VI 

PUSSY-WILLOWS 

We all welcome and love the dear little pussy-willows 
Fig. 29) whose fur is so soft and silvery. How pretty 
they look sitting along the slender, 
bare branches of the small Amer- 
ican willow-tree which is their home. 
The pussies like to come early to 
assure us that spring is here. They 
are very tame little kitties, and will 
allow you to carry them away to 
your school or to your home. 

Sometimes pussy-willows turn into 
little rabbits, squirrels, bumblebees, 
and mice, but they need your help, 
they cannot make the magic change 
alone. It will be lots of fun helping 
them if you do it this way. 

Pussy- Willow Rabbits 

Take a small branch of the very 
largest pussies you can find, have 
ready some scraps of smooth, fresh 
writing-paper, a piece of cardboard, 
pair of scissors, and some good paste. 
It only requires long ears to change 
the pussy-willows into bunnies. Cut 
the ears from your writing-paper like 
Pig. 29 - puasy-jjiiaows . the pattern Fig. 30. Put paste on 

24 




d,t 5 H 



Fig. 30 - The Rabbit and th6 Rabbit's ears, enlarged 




Pig. 33 - Paper tall, enlarged, 
for squirrel • 




Fig, 32 - Pussy-willow Squirrel, enlarged. 



26 



Wild Flowers 



the strip between the letters G and H, then take a pussy 
from the branch and stick the paste-covered strip just 
above the small end of the pussy, which will be the bun- 
ny's head. The arrow I, Fig. 30, points to the place for 




Fig. 34 - The Pussy-Willow Bxrrible-Bee. 



the ears. When the paste has dried bend the ears up 
like the ears of the rabbits in Fig. 31. Make three or 
four rabbits to keep each other company and paste them 
in a row on your piece of cardboard. 

A Pussy- Willow Squirrel 

/This Httle gray squirrel (Fig. 32), sitting up in such a 
lifelike pose, must be made of a slightly bent, rather long. 



Pussy-Willows 



27 



slender pussy. Pull forward some of the fur near the small 
end so that it will look like the front legs of the squirrel 
when he holds a nut in his hand-like front paws, and push 
up two tufts on the head for ears. The pussy from which 
Fig. 32 was made already had these tufts for legs and ears, 
and it looked so much like a squirrel one simply had to 
add the tail and let it be a squirrel. 



HeA"D 




Thkoat 



l^o-o^ 




Pig. 35 - Parts of bumble-bee. 



Pig. 36 - IJraxT the legs of the bee 
like this. 



Cut the paper tail like the pattern Fig. 2>?>i fringe it 
along the edge and bend forward the little lap at the 
bottom which is separated from the tail by the dotted 
line. Curve the tail backward, put paste on top of the 
lap, and stick the lap to the under part of the large end of 
the pussy; then paste the finished squirrel to a piece of 
pasteboard cut round or square as you like best. 

Pussy- Willow Bumblebee 

Mr. Bumblebee (Fig. 34) needs one whole pussy for his 
body, one-half of a pussy for his big, round throat, and 



28 



Wild Flowers 



a small piece of the pussy for his head (Fig. 35). On the 
piece of cardboard which is to hold the bee, draw his legs 
like Fig. 36, then paste the three parts — body, throat, and 
head — on top of the legs. Fig. 37 shows how it would look 

underneath if you could 
see through the paper, so 
you will know exactly 
where to paste first the 
throat, then the head, and 
lastly the body. The edges 
of these parts where they 
join must be pushed close 
together. 
A bumblebee has slightly 




Pig. 37 - Paste the three parts of the 
bee on top of the.le^s. 




curved spikes extending 

from his head which are 

called antennae. Fig. 38 

shows you where to draw 

them. You will also see 

on the same diagram 

how to widen the six 

legs, making them 

thicker and more Hfelike. 

Cut paper wings the shape of Fig. 39, making them the 

proper size to fit your bee. Remember that a bumblebee 

has small, short wings compared to the size of its body. 

Bend the lap at the bottom of the wing along the dotted 

line, and paste the lap of each wing onto the sides of 



pig. 38 - Mr. Bumble-Bee,enlarged,ready 
for his wings. 



Pussy-Willows 



29 



Mr. Bumblebee's chest. The wings turn back over the 
laps and hide them. (See Fig. 40). The finished bee is 
shown in Fig. 34. 




Fig. 39 - Pattern of btunble-bee wing. •?^ 

Pig. 40 - Showing lap of wing bent back. 



If you cut a leaf out of green paper and put your bumble- 
bee on that instead of on the cardboard, he will look, with 
his extended wings, as if just ready to fly, and will make 




Pig. 41 - Pussy-Willow Mouse, enlarged* 

a fine addition to your collection of things made of out- 
door material. 

Pussy-Willow Mouse 

Then there is the pussy-willow mouse (Fig. 41). He is 
a nice little gray mouse with a long tail. 



30 



Wild Flowers 



Choose a large pussy-willow for this mouse, ruffle the 
fur up on top of the head and it will look like ears. The 
head is at the small end of the pussy. Paste one end of a 
piece of cotton string under the large end of the mouse, 
and that will be his tail. The string should be white. 



1 


2 


3 


4 


10 


5 


6 


7 


8 



Fig. 42 • Jumping Pussy-Wlllow Game-Board. 



Finish by pasting the mouse to a round or square piece 
of pasteboard. 

Jumping Pussy-Willows — a Game 

This is a good game and it will make you laugh to see 
the pussies leap up in the air, sail along a short distance, 
and land on a numbered square of the game-board. 

The board (Fig. 42) should be ten or twelve inches 
square. Cut it from a flat, even box lid or any other 
pasteboard you happen to have. Draw straight lines from 



Pussy-Willows 31 

top to bottom about one inch apart, then more straight 
lines from side to side one inch apart. This will divide the 
board into squares like a checker-board. Each of these 
squares must be numbered and you can draw or paste them 
in. Fig. 42 shows how the game-board should look. 

To play the game, lay the board down on a fiat surface, 
a stone will do if you are out-of-doors, or even the ground; 
and a table, if in the house. In front of the board draw 
a short Hne for the starting-post. The line should be ten 
or more inches from the board according to the distance 
you can make the pussies jump. Any number of players 
may join in the game and each player should have his 
own jumping pussy. 

Fig. 43 shows how to place the pussy under the tip of 
your right forefinger, with the large, blunt end standing 
a little out beyond the finger-tip. When ready to shoot, 
press down suddenly on the pussy and, as your finger slides 




Pig, 43 - Place your finger on the Pussy-Wlllow and, 
make It jvimp. 



off the small end, away jumps pussy and lands on a square 
of the game-board. Each player plays in turn, always, 
of course, placing the pussy on the starting-Hne when shoot- 
ing. The player whose pussy lands on the highest number 
wins the game. Jumping pussy-willow can also be played 



32 Wild Flowers 

by dividing the players into two even sides; then the side 
which has the highest score, after the numbers won by 
them have been added up, is the winner. 

Pussy- Willow Bouquet 

A nice, big bunch of pussy-willows makes an attractive 
bouquet, and a very welcome one early in the spring. " The 
pussies are out!" we hear some one say, and then the boys 
and girls vie with one another in their effort to be the first 
to find and bring home branches of the little catkins as 
proof that spring has come and they were the first to see 
her. 



CHAPTER VII 

ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS 

The arrangement of flowers is interesting and means 
a great deal. It means that this chapter will tell you what 
wild flowers look prettiest on the dinner-table and in bowls 
and vases in other parts of the house; what flowers and 
vines will keep fresh longest, and the kind that do not 
need water but are beautiful when dry. It means that 
you can learn not to force a tightly packed handful of all 
sorts of flowers into a small vase and expect them to look 
well. Flowers don't like crowding and are quite particular 
about their associates. 

If you come in hot and tired after your walk, put the 
flowers you have gathered into a pail of fresh water and 
let them stay there until you have rested and are ready 
to sort them out and make each kind look its very best. 
All flowers do not appear well in stiff, straight vases; all 
do not look well in bowls. That is the first thing to learn, 
and the next is that while some flowers seem to smile upon 
and nestle lovingly up to some others, there are kinds that 
they seem to draw away from and frown upon. Only a 
few examples can be given here. If you love the flowers 
you will find out more for yourself. 

The Wild Morning-Glory 

In your walks through the fields and along the country 
roadsides have you ever noticed the wild morning-glory? 
Of course, you have seen it and, perhaps, gathered some 
blossoms, only to find them in a short time wilted in your 

33 



34 Wild Flowers 

hand or turned into little, long bags, puckered at the top 
as if drawn up with a string. 

When I say noticed, I mean have you thought about 
the flowers while you looked at them? Have you noticed 
their shape and beautiful color, and have you seen the 




Fig. 44 - This Is the way the Wild Morning Glory looks. 

great difference between the green leaf of the wild morn- 
ing-glory and that of the cultivated one? 

The wild morning-glory leaf (Fig. 44) is more beautiful 
in shape, the vine is more graceful, and the blossom just 
as lovely as the cultivated morning-glory, and all this 
beauty need not be left behind when you gather the 
wild flowers which are to make the rooms of your home 
charming. 



Arrangement of Flowers 



35 



While I write this, July 7, there stands on a table in our 
living-room a tall glass vase, wide at the top and holding 
plenty of water. It is filled with a mass of wild morning- 




Fig.4& - The Wild Morning dory "bloseoraed 
after it was- gathei^d- 



glory- vines, and there are four new, entirely open, pink 
and white blossoms while others are just twisting open. 

Four days ago, when out for a walk in the country, I 
gathered the vine by the roadside where it grew in the 
company of daisies, buttercups, and wild mustard. Lift- 
ing themselves up into the lightj where the warmth of the 



36 Wild Flowers 

morning sun could open the buds and where the leaves 
could breathe in the fresh air, some of these trailing vines 
had wound themselves in masses around tall, strong weed- 
stalks. 

I gathered the vines, weed-stalks and all, breaking them 
off close to the ground; and now these stalks hold most 
of the vines upright in the vase, while other sprays droop 
gracefully over the edge and hang down almost to the 
table- top.' Only one or two flowers were in bloom when 
I found the vines, but there were quantities of green buds 
which I hoped would open later, and that is just what 
they are doing. It is like having wild flowers growing in 
one's window. And as for decoration, nothing can be more 
beautiful (Fig. 45). 

TraiHng vines always make pretty decorations, and 
many wild ones keep fresh a long while when given plenty 
of water. Some have flowers, some have not, but in any 
case they are worth gathering when you have large vases 
to fill. 

The Wild Balsam- Apple 

or as some people call it, the wild cucumber, is very 
decorative. That means it has beautiful curves and twists, 
and its small, white flowers, prickly, egg-shaped fruit, and 
long tendrils twisted spirally, Hke a steel watch-spring let 
loose, make us love to look at it. The leaves are pretty, 
too, being shaped almost like a five-pointed star. Some- 
times this vine is cultivated and you will find it trained 
up on strings to shade the porch, or over the kitchen-door 
of a farmhouse. Wherever you find it, it is beautiful. A 
large jar filled with sprays of the wild balsam makes a 
good centrepiece for the table, or a tall vase holding some 
upright and some drooping sprays looks very pretty when 
placed near a window where the light will fall on it. Do 
not mix other flowers with it, its own blossoms are suf- 
ficient. 



Arrangement of Flowers 37 

Wild Clematis 

The wild clematis is another beautiful vine, and you 
will find it clambering over fences and bushes along the 
country road. Its masses of white flowers fill the air with 
a sweet, spicy perfume that delights you. 

You can gather the clematis when it is in blossom, and 
keep it fresh in water for some time if you put it in root 
ends down. This vine does not wilt as you carry it. Later 
in the season, when the white flowers have turned into 
balls of silvery fringe, the vine is lovely in a different way. 
Then you can gather great armfuls and take it home to 
hang over mirrors or picture-frames, letting it become 
quite dry. It is best to strip the leaves off the sprays at 
first because they are not beautiful when dry. In a day 
or two after hanging up your clematis the balls of fringe 
will become a mass of soft down which will cling to the 
vine for many weeks. Later, when it becomes dusty, take 
it down. 

Bittersweet 

Then there is bittersweet, another wild vine that we 
gather in the fall. It covers fences and bushes as the 
clematis does, but instead of turning into fringe balls its 
small, creamy white flowers become bunches of berries. 

The berries are yellow at first; when ripe they split open 
and curl back to show the brilHant red seeds inside tha^ 
look like coral beads. 

Gather the bittersweet while the berries are yellow, 
strip off the green leaves, and hang the vine up dry or put 
it in a large vase without water. Then the berries will 
open and last all winter. 

Snapdragon and Wild Carrot 

Both of these are pretty flowers and worth gathering. 
The snapdragon (perhaps you call it butter-and-eggs) does 
not mind at all where it grows. Field, roadside, or even 



38 Wild Flowers 

the village streets may be its home, but wherever it lives, 
it makes the spot shine joyously with its stalks of yellow 
blossoms. Snapdragons combine well with the wild car- 
rot, whose other name is Queen Anne's lace, and together 
they make a delicate and beautiful bouquet. 

If you have a large glass fish-globe fill it with fresh 
water, and put in the snapdragon and wild carrot in a 
loose bouquet. Nothing could be prettier for the August 
lunch- table than this. 

Wild Roses 

look best in a low glass bowl, for they have no stems to 
speak of. Short-stemmed flowers do not belong in tall 
vases. The roses wilt quickly out of water and should 
have plenty of it. 

Do not put any other kind of flowers in the bowl; the 
roses won't like it; neither wiU you when you see how 
much better they look by themselves. 

Daisies and Buttercups 

so friendly in the fields, look pretty when arranged in a 
deep jar together, but I would not mix daisies with any 
other flowers, unless it is the lacy wild carrot. Butter- 
cups look well with the carrot, too, and buttercups look 
pretty mixed with grasses. You see they all know each 
other very well, growing in the fields together. 

The Wild Flag, or Iris 

whose home is along the banks of ponds and small streams, 
should be put into a tall clear glass vase or pitcher, where 
its stems will show through, that it may look its best. 

There is the yellow iris, the white and the purple, and 
they are very beautiful when combined but not crowded. 
Always put some of the long-spiked leaves in with the 
flowers. 



Arrangement of Flowers 39 

Clover Bouquets 

Clover bouquets make delightful centrepieces for the 
table. Arranged loosely with its own green foliage, the 
rose-colored clover is especially beautiful in a clear, green 
glass bowl of water. The sprays should be brought over 
the edges of the bowl, and allowed to droop down, resting 
partly on the table. 

Yellow clover and its foliage mingled with white clover 
makes a charming combination as a bouquet for almost 
any occasion. The name of the yellow clover is hop-clover. 
It is not as common as the other kinds. 

Green Bouquets 

When there are no flowers to be had you can have 
bouquets and centrepieces of green leaves, ferns, and vines, 
and you will be surprised to find what pretty ones can be 
arranged and how much they will be admired. 

Ferns will wither soon unless taken up with the roots 
and the soil surrounding them; but if they have the roots 
and soil they will last a long while, provided you put them 
in a bowl or jar and keep them always wet. That does 
not mean to water them as you would any other growing 
plant, but to keep them standing in water all the time. 
Maidenhair-fern kept in this way makes a delicate and 
beautiful centrepiece for the table. 

Sometimes you will find varieties of foliage that are 
full of color. In early summer the young leaves of the 
scrub-oak are very brilliant in reds and yellows, and I have 
made bouquets of nothing but leaves from the rose-bushes. 
These are often tinged with red and purple. Sprays of 
the barberry-bush with its rows of dangling red berries 
are pretty in* a green bowl. Be careful of the thorns when 
you gather this. Cut the stems; do not try to break them. 



PART II 
GRASSES 

CHAPTER VIII 

FAIRY-TREES MADE OF GRASSES 

Some of our grasses appear like very large trees to the 
little grass fairies who, we like to pretend, hide in their 
midst; while other grasses, with their jointed, bamboo- 
like stems, seem to these tiny people to be tall forests of 
real bamboo. 

Why not play that you are a little fairy and live among 
the grasses? But to see the grasses as the fairies see them 
you must lie down and bring your eyes very near the 
ground; so stretch yourself out flat, face down, with your 
head lower than the grass tops; then look steadily ahead 
through the tall grass stems. What do you see? 

The five fairy-trees standing by themselves in Fig. 46 
are four short-stemmed tops of the Scribner's panic-grass. 
Fig. 47 shows exactly how the grass looks before you pick 
it, and Fig. 48 gives a simple design that you can make 
by placing the tips of the four grass tops together, allow- 
ing the stems of two heads to lie in a straight horizontal 
line (that means a line running from left to right), and 
the stems of the other two heads to lie in a straight line 
vertically (that means up and down). 

While you are playing with the grasses you can begin 
to learn something about them. The beard-grass, which 

40 



Fairy -Trees Made of Grasses 



41 



some people call the little blue-stem (Fig. 49) , has near rel- 
atives named forked beard-grass and bushy beard-grass. 
These are stiff and angular, with bamboo-like stems, just 
the thing for trees in a little Japanese garden which some 














-,'A, 



p?^?y,tj:s. 



Fig. 46 - Trees of Scribner's Panic-Crass. 



time you will want to make. You may run across them 
anywhere, for they are common in all parts of our coun- 
try. 

Make friends with these and with other grasses. As 
you find them learn their names just as you would learn 
the names of new playmates. Take the grasses home, 
show them to your father and to your mother; if they 



42 



Grasses 



do not know their names, carry them to school and ask 
your teacher about them. In case she cannot tell you, go 




Fig. 47 



Scrlbner's Panic-Grass as it grows 
Panlcun Scrlbnerlanvun, 



to the public library with your grasses and persuade the 
librarian at the desk to help you find their pictures and 
names in some of her books. All grasses have names, so 




Pig. 49 - You will run across these anywhere* 



44 



Grasses 



keep asking and hunting until you know what to call them. 
When you know their names you will be glad to see your 
friends, the pretty green grasses, whenever you find them. 
In Chapter XVIII, which tells how to make a burdock- 
burr house, you will find more about grasses. 




Hi^^ 






^^.i'-^, 



't'l 















Fig. 40 - Scrlbner's Panic-Grass .Design made of four grass headSj 



CHAPTER IX 

A HOUSE MADE OF GRASS 

Real people live in grass houses way off in the Philippine 
Islands. That is, their houses are made of bamboo, which 
is a kind of giant grass. It must be a pretty airy, com- 
fortable house in summer, and it is always summer in the 
Philippines, but we never see that kind of houses here. 
One reason is because in most of our country a grass house 
would be very cold in winter, and another reason for not 
building them is because the bamboo grows only in the 
extreme south, and even down there people want more 
substantial homes. 

A prettier playhouse, though, could not be devised, and 
if you could see a Filipino house you would want it imme- 
diately, but since you cannot have a real one you can have 
the fun of making a Httle doll Filipino house, and of 
making it exactly as the Httle brown Filipino men make 
theirs. Suppose you gather some grass and twigs now, 
and build the Httle house for your doll. 

Some of the queer little people whose home is in the 
PhiHppine Islands perch their houses like birds' nests up 
in the trees, but often they are built on stilts to lift them 
high from the ground. Our little house (Fig. 50) shall 
be on stilts. We wiH make the floor first. If you do not 
understand how to measure by inches, ask an older person 
to help you. 

The Floor 

Find two straight, round sticks, not quite as large round 
as a lead-pencil. The sticks must be cut six and a half 

45 



46 



Grasses 



inches long, then two sticks of the same kind five inches 
long; after that there must be six more sticks five inches 
long. Split these last six sticks in half lengthwise. 

The Philippine people do not use nails, or screws, or glue, 
and not even wooden pegs, in building their houses; they 




Plig.50 - Tha little Grass House you can make. 



bind and tie the parts together with rattan, and as we are 
going to build just as they do we, too, will tie the parts 
of our house together, but will use raffia in place of the 
rattan. 

Hold one of the six-and-a-half-inch sticks (letter J, Fig. 
51) upright in your hand while you cross it a short dis- 
tance below the top with a five-inch-round stick (letter 



A House Made of Grass 



47 



K, Fig. 51). The distance from the top of the upright 
stick to the crossing and the distance from the short end 
of the other stick to the crossing must be the same. 

Begin binding them together as shown in Fig. 51. Then 

carry the raffia (string will do if you cannot get raffia) over 

and between the two ends of the sticks 

(Fig. 52), and wind it opposite ways 




Fig. 51 - Begin binding 
tlaem together. 

several times around 

the sticks, bringiner Pig. 52 - Carry the raffia over and 
' 00 between the two ends of the sticks. 

the raffia between as 
well as over them. 

This will lash them firmly together. Now turn this begin- 
ning of your floor around so that the short stick will be 
upright and the long one extend from side to side. Do 
not let the binding loosen; hold it tight and cross the long 
stick with one of the split five-inch sticks (Fig. 53). Be 
sure that the flat side of the split stick is next to the long 
stick, and that, you leave a slight opening between it and 



48 



Grasses 



^ciM 



^=ri 




the first crosspiece. Pull the raffia tight and bind it 
over this second crosspiece (Fig. 54), then back, crossing 
it as in Fig. 55. 

Bind on the next spHt crosspiece in the same way, and 
go on adding crosspieces until they reach almost to the 

end of the long stick, 
then let the last cross- 
piece be the second 
unsplit five-inch stick. 
When all the short 
crosspieces are prop- 
erly bound onto the 
long stick, bind the 
other six-and-a-half- 
inch long stick under 
the opposite ends of 
the crosspieces in the 
same way, and just as 
carefully (Fig. 56). 
This makes the floor 
and we must lash it to 
the stilts, which are 
four upright sticks, 
each seven and one 
half inches long. Fit 
the stilts in the outside 
corners made by the crossing of the end and side sticks of 
the floor, and, holding the floor about four and a half 
inches above the lower ends of the stilts, bind floor and 
stilts together (Fig. 57). Of course you can put the stilts 
on only one at a time. 

The Walls 

Make the framework for the walls by binding and tying 
onto the stilts near the top two sticks, each six and a half 




Fig. 53 - Turn the sticks, bringing J 
in horizontal position 



Pig. 54 - Bind raffia over secood stick. 



fig. 55 - Then bring raffia across front 
of second stick. 



A House Made of Grass 



49 



■^ 



inches long, one stick on 
each side. Across these 
sticks, from stilt to stilt, at 
each end, bind a five-inch- 
length stick (Fig. 58). 

The Roof 



To support the roof 
there must be two upright 
sticks, each seven inches 
long, and these sticks must 

be bound and tied to the middle of the end sticks of the 
floor and the end sticks of the wall. They are lettered 
L and L in Fig. 59. 

Fig. 60 shows the framework of the house without the 
bindings, so that you may see exactly how the sticks are 



Fig. 56 - Make the floor this way. 




Pig. 57 - Lash the floor to 
the stilts. 



Pig. 58 - Bind on four more poles 
making framework for walls. 



put together. There is a ridge-pole which forms the top 
ridge of the roof. This must be a stick about seven inches 
long, and it is to be tied to the uprights lettered L and L 



50 



Grasses 



that you have just fastened on the two ends of the house. 
(See Fig. 59, L and L.) Four other sticks, M and M and 
N and N, long enough to reach from the ridge-pole, crossing 
above it, to the side crosspieces of the wall, you must tie 
to the ridge-pole and the side-wall sticks, placing them 
slanting, as you see them in Fig. 60, at each end. 

The Porch 

Like many other people, the Filipino wants a porch 
to his house. Perhaps he sits there to smoke his curious 




Pig. 59 - End poles are added to Fig. 60 
hold up the roof. 



This la the Tray the house 
Is put together. 



little pipe, which is not much larger than the one you make 
of an acorn. I have never seen him on his porch, but I 
have seen him smoke and afterward tuck his pipe away 
in his long, fuzzy hair, where it remained in safety even 
while he leaped and pranced about in the wild dance he 
loves so much. 

But we must not forget the porch. If the Filipino 



A House Made of Grass 



51 



has one to his house, we must have a porch to ours. We 
won't make it separately and add it to the part already 
built, but, as the Filipino does, we will use part of the 
house-floor for the floor 
of the porch, and let the 
roof cover that as well 
as the house. To do 
this we must separate 
the house part from the 
porch part by putting 
up two more uprights, 
one on each side, a little 
way back from the front 
of the house, and these 
uprights will form the 
boundary-line. Letters 
O and P in Fig. 60 are 
these last uprights, the 
sticks which form them 
being long enough to 
reach from the wall side- 
piece to the floor, and 
extend a little above 
and below where they 
cross the upper and 
lower sticks. 




Pig. 61 - Presh grass Instead of 
palms over one side -wall. 



Thatching 




Pig. 62 - Strips of wood to bind 
down the grass on wall. 



Now we come to the 
real grass part of the 

house, for we have had to use small sticks for the frame- 
work instead of bamboo, and where the Filipino uses palm- 
leaves we will use grass. 

Gather some long, coarse, fresh blades of grass for 



52 



Grasses 




Pig. 63 



Pole rafter being thatched 
for roof. 



thatching both the roof and walls, and begin with the walls. 
Bunch the grass evenly, the stem ends all together, bend 
the bunch at the centre, then spread it out at its centre, 
and hang it thickly over one side- wall beam, which is the 
upper stick (Fig. 6i). Have the stem ends inside the house 
hang down as long as the tip ends on the outside, and 

let the outside ends hang 
down below the edge of 
the floor; then take a fiat 
strip of wood and place it 
near the top of the grass- 
covered wall, bend the 
ends a little and shde 
them back of the uprights 
(Fig. 62). Smooth the 
grass down evenly and put 
in another flat stick, this 
time at the bottom (Fig. 
62) . If you want the inside 
of the house as perfect as 
the outside, slide in two 
other strips on the inside 
of each wall to hold the 
grass down. Fig. 62 shows 
the grass partially trimmed 
off to make it even at the 
bottom. 

To thatch the roof you 
will need two more sticks 
for rafters. Over one stick, 
near the end, tie a bunch of grass into a tassel, using a 
piece of rafha to bind it; hang more grass over the stick 
or rafter, and tie it into another tassel, and with the same 
piece of raffia tie a third tassel (Fig. 63). Fig. 64 shows 
exactly how the raffia is tied. Make the tassels rather 




'Pig. 64 - Shows exactly how the 
raffia Is tied. 




Pig. 65 



• Hang grass over ridge 
pole of roof. 



A House Made of Grass 53 

thick and put them close together so that there will be 
no space between. 

When this rafter (the stick) is covered with thatch lay 
it across the side of the roof half-way between the ridge- 
pole (top stick on the roof) and the stick forming the side 
wall of the house, and tie the ends securely to the slanting 
sticks of the roof. Thatch another rafter and fasten it 
on the opposite side of the roof, then cover two shorter 
sticks with thatch and tie one across the front, the other 
across the back peak of the roof on a line with the thatched 
rafters on the sides. 

Fasten more thatch at the front and back peak of the 
roof, tying it to the ridge-pole, also to the two slanting 
sticks. Allow the grass to hang down far enough to cover 
the top of the thatch below it (Fig. 50) . This thatch must 
entirely fill up the ends of the roof made by the peak. Now 
hang grass over the ridge-pole at the top of the roof as 
you would hang your doll's Httle sheets on your toy clothes- 
line (Fig. 65), and bring the ends down over the thatched 
rafters on each side of the roof. Hold this top thatch in 
place by laying sticks across the grass just below the ridge- 
pole on each side of the roof. Bind and tie these sticks at 
each end to the framework of the house (Fig. 50). 

If grass cannot be had for thatching, soak hay in water 
to make it soften and take the stiffness out, then use that. 
Rafha dyed green might do, or should all else fail, take 
fine broom-straws softened in hot water for the thatch, and 
use loosely twisted string for binding and tying. Of course 
the string should not be white, but you can dip it in coffee 
and dry it, the color will then be like the color of rattan. 

The Ladder 

The spry little Filipinos use ladders instead of stairs 
to reach their living-room, so we must make a rustic ladder 
for our house. 



54 



Grasses 



Cut two slender sticks about six and one-half inches 

long for the sides; then cut seven or eight short sticks 

for the crosspieces or rungs. The rungs should be one 

and three-quarter inches long. Bind and tie the ends of 

the rungs to the side sticks (Fig. 66), 

placing them about three-quarters 

of an inch apart. The ends of the 

rungs must cross the side sticks and 

extend out about one-quarter of an 

inch. If properly tied, your little 

ladder will be firm and strong. 

Place the ladder one end resting 
on the ground, the other end on the 
front edge of the porch, then stand 
off and admire your work. It is 
certainly worth admiring, for the 
house will be a perfect miniature 
Fihpino home, and you may im- 
agine you can see tall cocoanut- 
palms and many other strange and 
beautiful trees and plants that grow 
in the hot Philippine Islands. You 
might copy some of these with 
grasses and small flowering wild 
plants. 

If you have a Noah's ark it will 
be a good idea to select some of 
the animals that live in the Philip- 
pines and put them in the little 
rattan and bamboo jungles which you have made of 
grasses. A piece of looking-glass or plain window-glass 
can represent water not far from the house, and here you 
should have a crocodile sunning himself on the bank. Let 
a wild boar be plunging out of the jungle, and deep in the 
bamboo grove you might hide the tremendously large 




Pig. 66 - The ladder will 
be strong and firm- 



A House Made of Grass 55 

snake called a boa. I don't think there will be a boa in 
your Noah's ark, but you can make one of bread dough, 
or of clay. With all these dangerous creatures prowling 
round, do you think it strange that the Filipino people 
put their houses on stilts? 

If this were a real house in the real Philippines you might 
see a number of natives, wearing little or no clothes, com- 
ing toward you bringing small snakes which they had 
caught to sell in the towns for rat-catchers. And near 
the house there would be most wonderful flowers, some 
of them orchids, the flowers that live on air; while all 
around would be strange and rare birds. 

At one side of the house, some distance away, there 
would, perhaps, be a wet rice-field where the queer water- 
buffalo, called a carabao, would be drawing a strange-look- 
ing plough, the driver, a little brown man, wearing an im- 
mense umbrella-like hat woven of palm-leaves. 

Listen ! Do you hear that deep, booming sound ? It 
comes from the peculiar tree which a native is striking 
with his big club in slow, heavy blows on one of its im- 
mense, wall-like roots. The sound goes rolling far over 
the land, telephoning to other natives that white people 
are coming. 

A Doll Filipino Woman 

To make the little house seem more real, dress a doll 
in genuine Philippine costume and stand her near the 
ladder with arms extended as if in welcome. The dress 
must be a white waist with flowing sleeves, a light-colored 
skirt, a large gay handkerchief, called a panuelo, folded 
around the doll's neck, and an overskirt made of a square 
of dark cloth drawn tightly around her body from waist 
to knees. No stockings are needed, but you can give her 
heelless slippers with only a narrow strip over the toes 
to keep them on. 



CHAPTER X 

GRASS DRESS AND GRASS HEAD-DRESS 

Look at the little girl in the photograph who is wearing 
her new grass dress made of the wavy hair-grass and play- 





Plg.67 - Bring the long end of string across front of 
second bvmoh and form loop A. 



Fig. 68 



First loop, A, on front of grass and string passed around 
back of grass forming second loop.B. 



Fig. 69 



String brought forward again and slipped through 
first loop, A. 



ing that she is a wood-nymph. She feels very proud and 
is greatly pleased with her pretty costume. 

Almost any kind of long, slender grasses can be used 
for a dress of this kind, but you must gather an armful 
or more. It takes a good deal of material, for the fringe 
must be close and thick. 

56 




She Is greatly pleased with her pretty grass costiane. 



58 



Grasses 



Divide the grass into bunches, each bunch about as 
thick as your thumb, and have the heads of all the grasses 
together at one end of the bunch, and the stem ends to- 
gether at the other end. 




Pig. 70 - Use a' strong string for tying the grass fringe. 



Tie a strong string around the stem ends of one bunch. 
Hold this tied bunch under your left arm, stem ends to 
the front, and take up another bunch (Fig. 70). Bring 
the long end of the string across the front of the second 



Grass Dress and Grass Head-Dress 59 

bunch and form a loop (A, Fig. 67). Hold the loop while 
you pass the string around the back of the bunch (Fig. 68), 
then slide the end through the loop A, Fig. 69. Draw 
this loop-fastening very tight and it will hold. Now place 
the second bunch under your arm with the first bunch, 




Pig. 71 - Bristle-spiked Cyperus -grass used for 
head-dress. See photograph. 



and make a loop-fastening around the third bunch. Keep 
on adding bunches of grass in this way, always drawing 
the last bunch close to the one before it, and holding them 
all together under your arm as in the photograph (Fig. 70) . 
In this picture the grass bunches are purposely left far 
apart that you may see exactly how to make the fringe. 
The grass dress will be finished when you have made 



60 Grasses 

a strip of fringe long enough to reach around your waist, 
for the skirt — it needs no waist — is really only a fringe of 
grasses to be worn over a light summer dress. 

Grass Head-Dress 

The grass head-dress to be worn with the wood-nymph 
skirt is quite as wild-looking, but is simply a band of grasses, 
with bunches of the bristle- spiked cyperus grass (Fig. 71) 
hanging downward on each end. The band goes across 
over the top of the head, and the grass side ornaments 
fall over the ears. 

Wear the grass costume and carry a light branch of green 
leaves in each hand when you give your next outdoor fancy 
dance, or take part in outdoor tableaux where you could 
represent either a wood-nymph or the spirit of the grasses. 



PART III 
GREEN LEAVES 

CHAPTER XI 

OAK-LEAVES 

To dress up and pretend is something every little girl, 
and boy too, for that matter, likes to do, and there is no 
better place for having this kind of fun and no greater 




Fig. 72 - The Robinson Crusoe Hat., 



storehouse for dress-up material than the wide, sunny 
fields and green, shady forest on a summer's day. 

If you want to be a wood-nymph, a fairy, or a pioneer; 
if you would be a fashionable lady decked in jewels rare, 

61 



62 Green Leaves 

or a rollicking cowboy, or Robinson Crusoe, it is all the 
same to Mother Nature's department store. Fields, Woods 
& Co. can furnish all you need. If the goods are not al- 
ways ready to wear, they are at least ready to be made 
up into what you want. 

Why, you can even be a little savage and wear a skirt 
made of a fringe of long grasses, like the wood-nymph's 
dress, and bracelets of slender, golden-brown rootlets, if 
that pleases you; all the materials are ready to your hand. 
And you can make a 

Robinson Crusoe Hat 

of the large leaves of the scrub-oak— a pretty and becom- 
ing hat and one that will keep your head cool though you 
walk under the hottest of noonday suns. 

The photograph given here shows one little girl who 
likes immensely to wear her Crusoe hat, and Fig. 72 shows 
just how the hat looks when not on her head. 

It won't take more than five minutes to make the hat, 
but first you must gather the leaves. Ordinary oak-leaves 
are too small to use; it is on the scrub-oak that 3^ou will 
find them large enough. The scrub-oak grows low, like a 
bush, and the leaves will be quite within your reach. Like 
a good shopkeeper, this kind of oak shows his customers 
leaves of various sizes, but it is the very largest that you 
must take, and only the ones that are dark-green in color. 
The pretty new hght-green or brownish leaves will soon 
wilt and curl on the edges, while a hat made of the older, 
tougher ones will last in good condition several days if left 
out in the dew at night or kept damp in the house. 

The number of leaves needed depends upon the size of 
the leaves and the size of your head. It is well to have 
at least a dozen and a half; then you can select the best. 
The largest leaves are not always perfect, but unless very 




Wie jloblnson Crusoe Hat is pretty exid, becoming. 



64 



Green Leaves 



much torn or eaten away by insects they will answer. To 
gather all you need you will probably have to visit several 
of the little scrub-oaks. 

If you are at home when you make your hat, use broom- 
straws to pin the leaves together; if you are in the woods 
find some smooth, slender twigs, break them in short pieces, 
and they will take the place of the straws. 

Begin by pinning two leaves together as they are in Fig. 

73. These leaves are lettered 

U and V. You see that U 

is lapped over V and then 

pinned to it in two places, 

first near the stem and then 

through the lower side lobe. 

The next leaf would be letter 

W, and W would be pinned 

to U just as U is pinned to V. 

Make the stems meet at the 

top and keep adding leaves, 

pinning one to another, until 

the hat is large enough to fit 

your head comfortably, then pin the last leaf to the first. 

Do not make the hat too flat; if you find it flattening 

out, lap the leaves over more at the bottom. When finished 

it should be shaped like Fig. 72. 




Pig. 73 



• Pin the leaves together 
in this way. 



Oak-Leaf Mask 



Among other frolics in the woods you can have a mas- 
querade — a real one, where you wear a mask, and that 
mask made of one of the largest leaves of the scrub-oak. 
Not even a pair of scissors will be needed to make this 
mask, and it is a funny one too (Fig. 74). See the turned- 
up eyelids and the wide nose tilted at the end. 

When you have found a leaf large enough (the one in 



Oak-Leaves 



65 



the drawing was nine inches long and seven inches wide) 
use your thumb-nail to cut out the eyes and nose. The 




Pig. 74 - The Oak Leaf Mask. 



outlines at the top of Fig. 74 show how to shape them, 
and the dotted lines show where they are bent up. 



66 



Green Leaves 



There is no mouth, none is needed, for the leaf, below 
the nose, drops down loosely over your mouth like the 
curtain on a mask one buys at a shop. The oak-leaf mask 
will stay on your face if you wet the under parts of each 

side and stick them to 
your cheeks. 

Another way to make 
the mask is to turn the 
leaf around, stem down, 
and then cut the eyes 
and nose in the wide 
part, leaving the nar- 




Pig»75 - The little Oak Leaf Dog. 





Pig, 77 - This shows how the 
dog was made. 



Pig. 76 - The leaf the dog 
was made of. 



rower stem end for a long chin. This kind you can hold 
in front of your face by taking the stem in your hand. It 
requires so short a time to make a mask that when one 
wears out or is lost you can have another to replace it in 
a minute or two. 



Oak-Leaves 67 



The Little Oak-Leaf Dog 

He has the funny expression of a real dog when he is 
making up his mind what to do next, even if he is only an 
oak-leaf. It was an ordinary leaf four inches long which 
was, by tearing a little here and bending a little there, 
transformed into his absurd dogship (Fig. 75). 

Fig. 76 is the tracing of the leaf actually used for the 
dog. Fig. 77 shows the same leaf with its stem nipped 
off and the other end torn up, not very evenly, where the 
dotted Hues are in Fig. 76. This makes the little dog's 
tail. The tear on either side reaches to the mid-rib of the 
leaf, but does not cross it, and the mid-rib being unbroken 
holds the tail out stiff and straight. 

The two hind legs are bent down just where the tear 
ends in making the tail. The dotted line in Fig. 77 shows 
this. The other two legs, formed by the side lobes of the 
leaf, are bent down as the dotted lines indicate. The tip 
of the lobe on the left side had to be torn off because that 
leg was longer than the opposite one. 

In making the neck the narrow part of the leaf was bent 
up and then down, the two dotted lines show where. Then 
the ears were bent up and the little oak-leaf dog was placed 
standing as you see him in Fig. 75, to have his picture 
drawn. 



CHAPTER XII 

GRAPE-LEAF DRINKING-CUP 

A WILD-GRAPE leaf will do quite as well as a cultivated 
one for a drinking-cup if it is large enough. You want a 
large leaf, because a small one will hold only a sip of water, 
and when one is really thirsty that is certainly not enough. 

Whether wild or cultivated, the grape-leaf should be 
washed in clean water to take off dust and any possible 
insects that may be on it. Where there is water to drink 
there is water for washing the leaf, so there can be no dif- 
ficulty about that, and the large green leaf, freshened by 
the water, looks very cool and inviting. 

It is simply a matter of folding, first one way, then the 
other, that turns the grape-leaf into a cup. Fig. 78 is a 
tracing of the leaf from which the cup (Fig. 79) was made. 
It measured eight inches at its widest part, almost seven 
inches from tip to stem, and the cup held a good supply 
of water. 

Begin to fold by bringing the two lower lobes of the leaf 
together in the way shown in Fig. 80. This makes the 
middle bend that is indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 
78. Then bring the two lobes around to the left, or to the 
right if that comes easier, hold them close together and 
lap them over the upper lobe on that side. That makes 
the two side bends which join at the middle bend (Fig. 
78), and rounds the cup into shape. 

The bottom of the cup is pointed, as you see, and, 
of course, will not stand; then, too, the cup falls apart 
when you loosen your hold, but neither of these things 
are of any consequence, for you can let your cup lie fiat 

68 




Fig. 78 - The drinking cup was raacie 
of a leaf like this. 




Pig. 79 • A fine arinking cup made hy folding 
a Grape leaf. 



70 Green Leaves 

and fold it again very quickly when it is needed. As long 
as the folds are held tight in your fingers, the cup will keep 
its shape and hold water without leaking a particle. Use 
the upper, or green, side of the leaf for the inside of 




Fig. 80 - Bring the two lower lobes of the 
leaf together. 



the cup; the under, or light, side is fuzzy and may harbor 
small insects even after it is washed. Be sure you look 
into the water before drinking it. This should be done 
no matter what you drink from or where you get the 
water. 



CHAPTER XIII 

GREEN-LEAF DESIGNS 

Beech-Leaves 

Remarkably pretty designs can be made entirely of 
green leaves; also with leaves and their seed-pods, their 
nuts and berries. You can press a design of leaves alone, 
but one having seed-pods, berries, or nuts cannot be pressed. 




Pig, 81 - Two twigs Tjroken off a Beech Tree 
made this design. 



It is fun to make it, even if it cannot be preserved by press- 
ing, and you will like to do it. 

Fig. 8 1 is the drawing of a charming design made of 
two twigs broken off a beech-tree. On one twig were two 
beechnuts in their pretty green, spiky outer shells; on 

71 



72 



Green Leaves 



the other was just one nut. Each twig had three leaves. 
Nothing was cut off and nothing was added for this de- 
sign; the twigs were used exactly as they came from the 

tree. The stems were 
simply crossed, with the 
lower leaf of one twig 
falling over the stem of 
the other twig, and that 
finished it. The easiest 
thing in the world to do 
if you happen to think 
of it. 

Violet-Leaves 

There is one thing 
about the green leaves of 
the violet which makes it 
a joy to use them in a 
design, and that is, the 




Pig. 82 - Design made of 
Viol'et leaves. 





Pig, 83 - -The stem, curves 
nattirally. 



Fig. 84 - Under side of the small 
leaf in the design. 



stems are so pliable, so easily bent and curved, you can 
do almost anything with them. 

See how the stems add to the beauty of the violet-leaf 
design Fig. 82. 

The curve of the stem of Fig. 83 is a natural one for it 
to take, and you can probably find a leaf with its stem 



Green-Leaf Designs 



73 



curved very much like it, but it is another thing to come 
across one of the same size which has a stem curved in the 
opposite direction, and such a stem is necessary for a de- 
sign Kke Fig. 82. 

Very well! Since the stem does not naturally curve 
the way we want it, we will make it do so. All we have 




Fig. 85 - This Is the way the curling Ground- Pine grows. 



to do is to draw it through our fingers several times and, 
by pressure, gently persuade it to turn as we wish. 

Fig. 84 is the under-side of the small leaf at the bottom 
of the design (Fig. 82), and shows how the stem loop above 
the leaf was made. 

First a violet-leaf with stem curved like the one in Fig. 
83 was laid down on a sheet of paper, then another leaf 
of the same size, with stem made to curve in the opposite 
direction, was placed beside but not touching the first 
leaf, and with its stem crossing the other stem. The two 
stems meeting at the bottom formed a pear-shaped loop. 
The small leaf, after its stem had been formed into a loop 
and the end tucked in at the back, was fitted on top of 
the stems of the large leaves, as you see it in Fig. 82. 



74 



Green Leaves 



Violet-leaves are seldom flat; they are apt to curl at the 
edges; some are so curled as to form Httle cornucopias. 




Pig. 86 - Beautiful, tiny, green Plne-Tree made 
of a curling branch of the Ground-Pine. 

Choose the flattest you can find for a design like Fig. 82, 
and paste them to the paper with a touch of paste on the 
under-part of the tip and of the two lobes at the bottom 



Green-Leaf Designs 75 

of each leaf. Paste the stems down also with a touch of 
paste here and there. 

The violet-leaf design can be pressed. 

Ground-Pine 

Deep in the shadowy woods, often where pine-trees are 
growing, you will find the ground-pine. Clinging close 
to the ground, curling in feathery, green clusters on its 
vine-hke root, it runs for yards over the surface, while its 
root, lying along the top, sends down slender rootlets into 
the earth. Push away the dry leaves or pine-needles that 
usually cover the root, and you can pull up long strips and 
soon gather enough to make the prettiest kind of festive 
decorations. 

Festoons of the ground-pine are very pretty on walls, 
stair-banisters, porch-railings, over picture-frames, and 
hanging from chandeliers, and this ready-made evergreen 
rope is as suitable for outdoor as for indoor decoration, as 
beautiful in summer as in winter. 

When you want to ^'dress-up" in the woods use the 
ground-pine for trimmings. Loop it over your skirt and 
make a wreath for your hair. Last summer at camp we 
used the ground-pine in this way and the little girls, ar- 
rayed for a dance, never looked prettier. For table decora- 
tions at camp and for decorating the tent doorways the 
ground-pine is charming. 

Fig. 85 shows how the short, curled clusters grow on 
the long root, and Fig. 86 gives a wee pine-tree made of 
one cluster picked off the root and planted in an outdoor 
doll's garden. 

This is what our American writer and poet, Ralph 
Waldo Emerson, said of the ground-pine: 



*'As I spoke, beneath my feet 
The ground-pine curled its pretty wreath, 



» 



PART IV 
CULTIVATED FLOWERS 

CHAPTER XIV 

PHLOX 

Phlox Tower and Phlox Design 

In a great bunch of garden-flowers given me by a friend 
I found some pink-and- white phlox (Fig. 87), and from it 
I made first a 

Phlox Tower 

As you know, the blossom is trumpet-shaped and flares 
at the open end into five petals. The tube part is long 
and narrows to a point, so it is easy to push one flower into 
another. That is what you do in building the phlox tower. 
You pull the blossom off its stem and out of the little green 
calyx which holds it, then you push the end of the tube 
part into the round red eye in the centre of another flower 
as far down as it will go. Then you push another blossom 
into that one and build up until your tower is as high as 
you want it, or as high as it will stand without toppling 
over. A bud stuck in the top flower makes a good finish 
(Fig. ^^). 

Phlox Design 

The design Fig. 89 was made by first putting three 
blossoms together, sticking one inside the other as for the 
tower, to form the long side sprays, and afterward arrang- 
ing three blossoms below the side sprays and one above 

76 



Phlox 



77 



with their stems meeting at the middle, as they are in Fig. 
89. On each side of the upper flower was placed a sprig 
of buds; then the tube part of a blossom was cut off and 
the petal part fitted in the centre of the design to cover 
the ends of the other flowers where 
they met. 

The tube parts of three more 
flowers were cut away, and the petal 




Pig. 87 - Blossoms of the Phlox. 



Pig. 88 - Build your Phlox 
Tower like this. 



parts arranged in the position shown in Fig. 89. This 
formed a scattered design quite different from any of the 
others made of flowers. 
Touches of paste on the under part held all the flowers 



78 



Cultivated Flowers 



in place* The phlox design is a good one to preserve by- 
pressing. 

The Tiger-Lily Leopard 

From the briUiant-orange tiger-lily, with its dark-brown 
or black spots, we are going to make a — tiger? No, a 





Pig. 89 - This phlox design should b© pressed. 



leopard. Tiger-Hlies may have spots, but tigers, you know, 
are striped. 

It is really wonderful how much this Httle animal, made 
of parts of a beautiful flower and broom-straws, looks like 
the stealthy, prowling, wild creature which lives in Africa 
and Asia. The yellow coat of the live leopard is covered 
with black spots, and so is that of our flower leopard. The 
fierce living animal has a long tail that it moves slowly 



Phlox 



79 



back and forth in anger or when it threatens to attack an- 
other animal or a man. Our little leopard also has a long 
tail which, if it does not really move, looks as if it were 
just going to. But while the live animal is ferocious and 
will kill, we can only pretend that of the tiger-lily leopard. 
Though he looks dangerous, he cannot even nibble a green 
leaf. 

The illustration of the tiger-Hly given here is a draw- 
ing of the one from 
which the hly leopard 
(Fig. 90) was made. 
You will notice that at 
the right of the flower 
(Fig. 91) there is the 
stem and pistil of a 
blossom that has fallen 
apart. 

When we make the 
leopard we cut off this 




Plg.SO - The stealthy, prowling Leopard. 



Pig. 91 - The leopard Is made ftom a 
Tiger Lily like this. 



lily-stem close to the stalk, leaving the pistil attached, to 
use for the back-bone and tail. Four broom-straws, about 
an inch and a half long and sharpened at one end, we use 
for legs. The pointed ends of two of the legs are pushed 



80 Cultivated Flowers 

into the stem at the front, and the other two in part of 
the pistil at the back, as shown in Fig. 92. That makes 
the skeleton. 

Now we have to fit on the skeleton the leopard's spotted 
coat. After pulling the perfect flower apart we select the 




Fig. 92 - This l8 MMb skeleton of tbe leopard. 




Fig. 93 - The leopard's spotted coat 

petal best suited for this purpose (Fig. 93), and then take 
the curl partially out of it by pressing it down on the table 
with our fingers. The tip of the petal will have to be cut 
off because it comes down too far over the tail. 

The blunt end of the petal will be the leopard's head, 
and it can be rounded up and moulded with your fingers 
until it looks like the head of the leopard in Fig. 90. Small 
ears of bits of broom-straw, pointed at one end, we must 
stick in the head where they belong and then, in order 
to make the coat stay in place, we will pin it to the skeleton 
at the neck, in the middle of the back, and again at the 
tail, with fine broom-straws. So we have the little leopard 
complete. 



CHAPTER XV 

CULTIVATED FOXGLOVE 

Fairy-Caps 

Do you know the cultivated foxglove with its tall spikes 
of thimble-shaped flowers, prettily spotted inside? (Fig. 
94.) And do you know that these flowers will fit on the 
ends of your fingers like tall caps on the heads of little 
fairies ? 

Perhaps there are foxgloves growing in your garden 
now. If there are, pick five blossoms off the stalk, select- 
ing a large one for your thumb and a small one for your 
little finger; the others should be of a size in between these 
two. 

Turn these blossoms upside down and they at once be- 
come fairy-caps. Fit the caps on all five fingers of your 
left hand. Then on your fingers, just below the caps, draw 
little faces with pen and ink. Now you have five living, 
moving fairies who will do all sorts of things and be very 
spry about it (Fig. 95). They will nod at you joyously, 
they will bend low in solemn salute, and they will put their 
little heads together to plan some piece of mischief. 

They can be fairy children at school, if you like, with 
the short, fat thumb fairy for the teacher; and you can 
make the fairy pupils stand close together, shoulder to 
shoulder, then at a word from the teacher, separate and 
stand alone again. 

It will be fun to name the fairies, such names as Pepper- 
grass, Mustard-seed, and Catnip, and with the teacher 
standing before his class, have him call the roll and have 
each fairy bob his head as he answers to his name. 

81 



82 Cultivated Flowers 

Perhaps you will want the teacher to require each pupil 
to sing a Httle song or recite a short verse. When a fairy 
does that, he moves forward in front of the others, and 




Fig. 94;- "Do you know the Ctil- 
tivated Pox Glove?" 

stays in that place until he has finished. Here is a pretty 
verse for a flower-capped fairy to recite: 

"I wonder what the Clover thinks, 
Intimate friend of the BoboHnks, 
Lover of Daisies, slim and white, 
Waltzer with Buttercups at night. 



Oh, who knows what the Clover thinks? 
No one ! Unless the Bobolinks." 



Cultivated Foxglove 



83 



Sweet Pea — the Peacock 

You use a little pretended magic when you turn a sweet- 
pea blossom into a peacock, and that makes it seem more 




.Fig. 95 - Five living Fairies. 



mysterious and more interesting. It doesn't take a second 
but while you are doing it you must repeat this trans- 
formation rhyme: 



Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea, 
Your petals unlock. 
I turn two down. 
And you're a peacock." 



84 



Cultivated Flowers 



Pick out a fine, large sweet-pea blossom. It doesn't mat- 
ter about the color. If you have a number to choose 
from, suit yourself. 
Hold the flower in your 
left hand by its stem 
and recite the first two 
lines: 

Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea, 
Your petals unlock." 




Pig. 97 - "I t\xm two dovm aad 
you're a Peacock. " 



Pig. 96 - "Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea, 
Your petals unlock." 



Then as you reach 
around to the back of the 
flower with your right hand 
and put your thumb on 
one curled petal, X, and 
your first finger on the 
other curled petal, Y (Fig. 
96), finish the rhyme: 



I turn two down, 

And you're a peacock." 



Cultivated Foxglove 



85 



and at the same time turn these petals down as they are 
in Fig. 97. You will see right away that the turned-down 




Tig. 98 - The blossoms of the cultivated 
snapdragon ai»e large. 



petals at the sides are the wings, the upright petal at the 
back is the tail, and the closed middle part is the body. 



86 



Cultivated Flowers 



The tipped-up point of the body part makes a very good 
head for the Httle sweet-pea peacock. 

Snapdragon — Lady's Head and Lion's Head 

The magic that turns a blossom of the large, cultivated 
snapdragon into a little lady's head, upon which rests 




Pig. 99 - The Snaparagon 
.Lady's Head. 



Pig, 100 - The Snapdragon 
Lion's Head. 



a dainty, ruffled sunbonnet, or into a ferocious-looking 
lion's head, is the magic of pen and ink, not of rhyme. 

The blossoms of the cultivated snapdragon are very 
much larger than those of its wild cousin, called by some 
people butter-and-eggs, but the cultivated flowers grow on 
a stalk in the same way as the wild ones. You would 
hardly recognize the cultivated flowers as snapdragons be- 
cause of their size and wonderful colors. A sure test is to 
pinch one; if it opens its mouth it is a real snapdragon; if 



Cultivated Foxglove 87 

it doesn't it is not; but you must know how to pinch it, 
else it may refuse to snap. 

The illustration (Fig. 98) shows a stalk of the cultivated 
flower, and looking at the blossoms in that position you 
can see neither the lady's head nor the lion's, yet they 
are there. 

lady's head 

Pick a blossom off its stalk, leaving the Httle stem at- 
tached, and turn it around until you discover the sun- 
bonnet and see that it looks like Fig. 99, then with pen 
and ink draw eyes, nose, and mouth on the part under 
the bonnet that is the face. This part is white, while the 
sunbonnet is sometimes a dainty pink and sometimes a 
gorgeous scarlet or orange, with deeper color on the edges. 

lion's head 

Turn another blossom upside down and the crown of 
the bonnet becomes the lower jaw and beard of the Hon, 
while the other part is the lion's face. On the face you 
must make two fierce eyes like those in Fig. 100. When 
you take hold of the lion's jaws at the back and pinch them 
he will open his great, wide mouth as if to send out a tre- 
mendous roar, only to snap it shut again without a sound 
as you stop pinching. Fig. 100 shows how to hold the 
flower to open the lion's mouth. 

The pink snapdragon is best to use for the lady's head 
and the orange-colored one for the lion's. If you would 
rather call it a dragon's head, you can, you know, but it 
looks more like a Hon. 



CHAPTER XVI 

MISS HOLLYHOCK'S GARDEN-PARTY 

When Miss Hollyhock gives a garden-party the scene 
is a gay one. All the ladies, and you can have as many 
as you want, are in their freshest, crispest summer gowns. 




Plg.aoi « Ittss Hollyhock gives a garden party. 



There are dainty pink ones, white, rose-colored, and deep 
red; there are light yellow and orange; there are gowns 
almost brown and others almost black, but whatever the 
color of the skirt the waist is always green. Green waists 

88 



Miss Hollyhock's Garden-Party 



89 




Fig. 102 



Cut the Pistil out 
of the flowers. 



are the style where Miss Hollyhock lives, and she and all 

her friends follow the style very closely. 

The hats these Uttle ladies wear to the party are of the 

same silky material as their 

skirts and are usually of the 

same color, though sometimes 

a lady in white will appear in 

a pink or yellow hat, or a pink 

lady can be seen wearing a 

white hat, and the lady in rose 

knows how well she looks in a 

hat that is almost black. When 

there are two or more gowns of 

the same color the hollyhock ladies prefer to have different 

colored hats so that they will not all look alike. 
Fig. loi shows how Miss Hollyhock and her friends are 

made from the flowers 
of. that name. When 
you have gathered the 
flowers you must cut 
off the stem of each 
close to the green calyx 
which is Miss Holly- 
hock's w^aist, and then 
cut out the pistil which 
grows inside the blos- 
som. This pistil is 
shaped something like 
a Httle club, and is 
covered with the yel- 
low grains of pollen 
(ask some one what 
pollen is). It looks 

like Fig. 102. The pollen will make the flower wilt 

quickly. That is why it is best to take the pistil out. 




HEAD 



Pig. 103 - This Is the way to make 
Miss Hollyhock. 



90 



Cultivated Flowers 



Now select a nice, round, hard, green bud for a head 
and leave its stem on for the neck. Turn the sharp point 
of your scissors around in the top of the hollyhock calyx 
to make a Httle round hole, then push the stem of the bud 
into the hole, screwing it round and round until the bud 
ahnost, but not quite, touches the calyx. If you push it 




SPOUT 



?=^.^ 




Pig. 104 - Miss Hollyhock*! 
Tea Table. 



Fig. 106 - Teapot and cups for the 
Hollyhock tea table. 



all the way down your lady will have no neck; her head 
will grow directly out of her shoulders. 

Wooden toothpicks are used for legs, arms, and sup- 
port, but strong broom-straws will answer as well, or 
straight, slender twigs. Push three toothpicks, twigs, or 
broom-straws up into the centre of the flower, two in front 
and one at the back as you see them in Fig. 103. The 
dotted lines show where they go inside the blossom. Be 
sure to have all three the same length so that the little 
lady will stand firmly. The arrows on Fig. 103 show where 
to insert the arms. Cut sharp points on the broom-straws 
to make them slide in easily. Blunt ends will tear the 
flower. 

With pen and ink make the eyes, nose, and mouth on 



Miss Hollyhock's Garden-Party 91 

the head, and use a petal of another hollyhock for a hat. 
Pin the hat to the top of the lady's head with a pin or 
short broom-straw. 
A garden-party would not be complete without 

A Tea-Table 

Make the tea-table of the hollyhock's round cake of un- 
ripe seeds which most children call a cheese. This is cov- 
ered with a green case which is easily taken off and then 
you have a round, white disk like a little table-top turned 
up at the edge. Select the largest one you can find and push 
the ends of three toothpicks or broom-straws into the un- 
der-side for the table legs (Fig. 104). Now the tea-table 
must have a 

Teapot and Cups 

Find a green bud for a teapot shaped like Z (Fig. 105). 
Push two short straws into the bud in the places shown 
by the arrows in Z (Fig. 105), one for the spout and one 
for the handle. Cut the tops off smaller buds to make 
them into teacups (A and B, Fig. 105). A drop of paste 
at the bottom of the teapot and the cups will keep them 
in place on the table. 



CHAPTER XVII 

DAFFODILS 

Dancing Flowers and Whirligigs 

Daffodils, yellow as sunshine, always come with the 
beautiful springtime. The blossoms of the single daffo- 
dils, with their tall, golden cups resting in the saucers of 
lighter- colored petals, are the daintiest, though both single 





Pig. 106 - The Daffodil Dancejr. 



Pig. 107 * The Daffodil Animal. 



and double are so like a song of cheerfulness it is a joy to 
have them near. They look as if they wanted to dance 
for sheer happiness and, wonder of wonders, you can ac- 
tually make them dance. 

Gather a few of the single dafifies, leaving on them the 
very short stems which hold them to the main stalk. These 
Httle green stems will be the stiff ornaments at the top 
of the dancers' green caps when you turn the flowers up- 
side down, which is right side up for the dancers. 

92 



Daffodils 



93 



Daffodil Dancers 

To make a flower stand alone and give it feet to dance 
on, push three wooden toothpicks firmly up under the 
little yellow skirt into the 



«5ri 



\ 



centre of the blossom. It 
doesn't matter if a flower 
has three feet; like an in- 
sect, it may have more 
than two and it won't stand 
on two. Spread the bot- 
tom ends of the toothpicks 
out a trifle like a tripod to 
make the flower stand 
steady (Fig. io6). 

When you have made 
several dancers, stand them 
on a tin tray, and they 
will be a group of "daffy- 
down-dillies just come to 
town," arrayed in their 
best gowns and ready to 
take part in the dance. 
Tap the tray gently from 
underneath and the danc- 
ers will begin to move. 
Tap a little harder and 

they will begin to dance. Tip the tray slightly forward 
and they will dance toward you; tip it backward and 
they will dance away again. 




Fig. 108 - Daffodil stalk for you to 
turn into a whirl i-gig. 



A Daffodil Animal 

Queer little animals that come only from Daffy land 
can be made of the single daffodil-blossoms. Take one of 



94 Cultivated Flowers 

the flowers and carefully cut away the outstanding petals, 
leaving the perfect, long cup. Hold the cup in your left 
hand with the short, green stem hanging down; the stem 
is the animal's head; then break off about half an inch 




•") 



m 



Fig. 109 - The Whirll-glg,^ 

from the blunt ends of four wooden toothpicks and use 
the longest parts for legs. Push the pointed ends of the 
tooth pick legs up into the under-side of the long, slender 
cup as it is held in your left hand. Keep the legs of an 
even length and the animal will stand firmly. This little 



Daffodils 95 

fellow, with his green head and long green nose, is very 
comical (Fig. 107). He can dance on the tin tray too, and 
run about when you tip it. 

The daffodil toys will keep their color a long while even 
after the blossoms are dry. Do not take off the brown 
calyx which is lightly wrapped around the bottom of each 
flower. It represents the hair of the dancers and the ears 
of the animal. 

The Whirligig 

You can have some fun with the daffodil stalk, too, after 
taking off the flowers. 

Fig. 108 is a daffodil stalk; look at it closely, then look 
a;t Fig. 109. They are really the very same though they 
appear to be so different. One seems to have a blossom 
at the top, and you know that the other has not. 

If you want to do the trick and make a stalk blossom, 
select a stalk like Fig. 108, hold the stem closely between 
your open hands and roll it rapidly by first sliding your 
right hand forward while the left slides backward, then 
the left forward and the right hand back. This makes a 
whirligig of your stalk, and the flower will appear at the 
top as you see it in Fig. 109. 

Try making whirHgigs of other kinds of stems; of 
grasses, twigs, and leaves. 



PART V 
SEED-VESSELS 

CHAPTER XVIII 

SEED-VESSEL PLAYTHINGS 

When the flowers have gone then come the seed-vessels, 
equally as good for playthings but very different. 

Of course, you know the rose-haws, the Httle red and 
yellow and green apples that you find on the rose-bushes 
in the fall. They are the seed-vessels of the rose, and every 




Fig. 110 - Rose-haw apples for your doll's table. 

rose which is allowed to remain on the bush until it fades 
and falls apart leaves a seed-vessel to take its place. 

The Doll's Fruit Piece 

The rose-haws look very much like little apples. Rosy- 
cheeked Baldwins, yellow harvest-apples, and greenings, 

96 




Fig. Ill - This necklace Is made of Rose-haws and Plantain Lily seed pods. 



98 



Seed-Vessels 



and they will make a fine fruit-piece for the centre of your 
doll's table. Pile them up on one of the toy dishes and 

put the smallest of green rose- 
leaves around the edge (Fig. no). 



Rose-Haw Necklace 

But the rose-haws can be used 
for something besides toy apples; 
you can pretend they are jewels 
and string them for a real neck- 
lace. 

One necklace can be entirely 
of the haws and another like 
Fig. Ill, which is made of bronze- 
green haws (Fig. 112), and the 
long, green seed-pods of the plan- 
tain (Fig. 113). The blossoms of 



Pig. 113 - The long, green 
seed pods of the Plan- 
tain Lily. 



Pig, 114 - The seed pod ear-ring. 



the plantain are pale purple or lavender, and hang from 
the stalk as the seed-pods do. They are bell-shaped and 
about an inch long. The leaf is hke a lily-leaf. 
As you see, the haws and seed-pods are strung alter- 



Seed-Vessel Playthings 99 

nately; first a haw, then a seed-pod, again a haw and so 
on. Thread your needle with strong thread and be sure 
the thread is long enough for the necklace. Measure it 
around your neck, letting it droop as much as you wish; 




Fig. 115 - This necklace Is made of Barberries and Plantain Lily StalK 




Pig. 116 - A branch of the Barberry Bush, 

then allow several inches at each end for tying. If you 
cannot find the large, brownish-green haws use yellow or 
red ones, but the green haws, when strung with the green 
seed-pods, are more beautiful. 

Seed-Pod Earrings 

To match the necklace, make long, green earrings of 
the plantain seed-pods. Fig. 114 shows a seed-pod ear- 
ring. You see it is strung on a thread and the ends of the 
thread are then tied to form a loop. The loop must be 
just large enough to fit comfortably over your ear, and 



100 



Seed-Vessels 




when you wear the earring, the green jewel will hang down 
and dangle delightfully. The upper end of the seed-pod 
should almost touch your ear. 

Necklace of Barberries and 
Plantain-Stalk 

Plantain is very useful in making 
jewelry because you can use the 
stalk as well as the seed-pods. 

Fig. 115 is a necklace made of 
the plantain-stalk cut in short pieces, 
all the same length, and the coral-red 
berries of the barberry-bush. The 
crooked branches of the barberry- 
bush grow very close together and 
are covered with thorns which stand 
out straight and sharp like pins. 
That is why it is so often used for 
hedges; nothing can get through it 
without being terribly scratched. 
From the branches the red berries hang down like coral 
drops. Fig. 116 shows the way they grow. 

To make this necklace, string first a piece of the plan- 
tain-stalk, push- 
ing the needle 
through length- 
wise, then string 
a barberry and 
again a piece of 
the green stalk; 

after that a barberry. Keep on in this way until the 
necklace is as long as you want it. 

The berries are exceedingly pretty strung as you see 
them, hanging down in their natural way, and really, you 
cannot string them any other way. The upper part of 



Pig. 117 - Make the ear- 
ring In this way. 




Fig. 118 - Maple seed vessel used as bird wings ;, 



Seed-Vessel Playthings 



101 



the berry is the only part through which you can pass your 
needle because of the large, hard seed which fills the space 
below. 

Plantain-Stalk and Barberry Earrings 

How to make the earrings to complete this set of jewelry 
is shown in Fig. 117. First you string a piece of the plan- 
tain-stalk, then a barberry; then you put your needle back 
through the stalk and tie 
the thread at the top. 
After that you make the 
loop to put over your 
ear as you did in making 
the seed-pod earring. 

Birds of Maple-Tree 
Seed-Vessels 

You see it is not only 
the seed-vessels of flow- 
ers that can be turned 
into playthings. The 
trees also furnish abun- 
dant material for toys. 

Gather the winged seed-vessels that fall from the maple- 
trees, Fig. 118 is a maple seed-vessel, and let us sit on 
the dry, sun-warmed grass and turn them into odd Httle 
birds like Fig. 119. These birds are very near the size of 
our ruby-throated humming-birds, a trifle larger perhaps, 
but they do not in the least resemble the beautiful, jewel- 
colored, long-beaked wild bird, either in looks or habits. 
However, they are nice, tame, quiet Httle birds and never 
object to being handled, played with, and placed on any 
bush or low tree where you may happen to want to put 
them. You cannot say that of the humming-bird, can you? 

You will need two seed-vessels for each bird. Divide 




Fig. 119 - Maple seed vessel bird. 



102 



Seed-Vessels 



one through the centre, separating the two wings, and use 
one of these wings for the body of the bird, as you see in 
the diagram Fig. 120. CHp off the two corners of the 
square end where the arrows point to shape it like a 
bird's head, then carefully bend up the seed-vessel pair 
of wings, and fit the body down in between them, resting 




Fig. 120 - Bird's body. 



it on the centre part that holds the wings together. One 
or two stitches with needle and thread, passed through 
wings and body, will keep them close and secure. 

When your bird is finished (Fig. 119), thread a needle 
with black thread, tie a good-sized knot in the end of the 
thread, and push the needle from underneath up through 
the back of the bird where it will come out between the 
wings. Draw the knot up close to the body and tie the 
other end of the thread to a low branch of a tree. When 
you stand off a little distance you cannot see the thread and 
your bird will seem to be hovering in mid-air. A gentle 
breeze will stir the bird and make it look as if flying. If 
there is no breeze, you can blow on it, or fan it until the 
little thing flutters about almost as if alive. 

Be careful to string the thread through the bird at a 
place that will make it evenly balanced. 



CHAPTER XIX 

BUCKEYE HORSE AND BUCKEYE RIDER 

All children love the clean, glossy, brown horse-chest- 
nuts or buckeyes. There are so many buckeye- trees in 
Ohio that it is called the Buckeye State, and many vil- 
' lages of Long Island are full of them. They are used for 
shade-trees and often line the streets, where they send down 
showers of their nuts, pretty but not good to eat. Every- 
where the children gather basketfuls and take them home 
to play with, and in other Beard books we have told of some 
things that can be made of buckeyes, but the buckeye 
horse and rider which you see here have just arrived. 

He is a very remarkable-looking horse with his funny 
round head and stiff legs and tail, though not more re- 
markable than the little man who rides him. Both are 
made simply of buckeyes and slender twigs. The head 
and body of the horse and of the man are buckeyes. The 
neck, ears, tail, and legs of the horse are smooth, straight 
twigs; the neck, arms, and legs of the man are also twigs. 

The Buckeye Horse 

When you make a horse let the light-colored part of the 
buckeye be his face. This part usually has a dark spot 
on it which looks like an eye. You will see it in Fig. 121. 
He will have only one eye unless you put in another with 
lead-pencil or pen and ink, but very frequently horses are 
blind in one eye, so it will not matter whether he has two 
eyes or one. 

Stick two short pieces of twigs in the head for ears and 
a longer twig for the neck. You will have to sharpen the 

103 



104 



Seed-Vessels 



ends of the twigs to a point so that they will go in easily. 
The neck twig will need sharpening at both ends. 

Before putting the head on the body of the horse, which 
should be as large a buckeye as you can find, push in four 
twigs for the legs. The front legs must slant forward, 
the hind legs slant backward. This will make him stand 
firmly. Then choose a slender twig for the tail, and split 
it several times at one end to show that it has hair on 

it, as in Fig. 121. 
Fasten the tail on 
and then push in 
the neck twig. 
This finishes the 
horse. 

The Buckeye Man 

For the body of 
the man who sits 
astride the horse, 
choose a buckeye 
which is rather fiat 
on one side. A 
round buckeye will roll off. Find a small buckeye for the 
man's head and give him a twig neck (Fig. 122). Do not 
make his twig arms stand out straight at his sides; push 
them in slantingly so that he will hold them out in front. 
Put his twig legs in far apart and slant them a little 
forward. 

Now place the man on the horse, and if he does not fit, 
change the position of his legs until he sits securely. Your 
buckeye man and buckeye horse will then look like Fig. 122. 

Pine-Cones. Pine-Cone Forest 

Of course you like to gather the rich-brown pine-cones 
that He scattered on the ground under the pine-trees; we 




Pig. 121 - H© la a remarkable looking Horso* 



Buckeye Horse and Buckeye Rider 105 

all do. Collect a number of those which have loosened 
and opened out their little leaf-like scales, then stand them 
up like trees in an open space on the ground. They look 
so much like toy trees we immediately want to play we 
are foresters, way off in the wild western lands, planting 
forest-trees for Uncle Sam. 

We can make our forest as large as we want it and 
plant trees every 
day if we like, or 
we can gather up 
our nice, clean, dry 
cones and take them 
into the house to use 
in some other way. 
They make nice 
playthings. 

A Fruit-and- Vegeta- 
ble Market 

If you find small, 
short cones, not 
fully opened out, 
notice how much 

they look like Httle ^'^•''' " "^^ ^""^"^^ ''^^'^ ^^ ^'^^^' 

pineapples; you 

must save these for our fruit-and-vegetable market, where 
we sell fat, short acorns as hazelnuts, the long acorns as 
pecans, and the buckeyes, or horse-chestnuts, all shiny, 
dark, and smooth, as eggplants, and rose-haws as apples. 

There are other things in our store, too. String-beans, 
which are really locust-pods, and heads of white cauli- 
flower made of bunches of the wild carrot or Queen Anne's 
Lace blossoms, tied together so that the pretty white flowers 
of the wide-spreading clusters He evenly with edges touch- 
ing. A number of these clusters are used for one head 




106 



Seed-Vessels 



of cauliflower, and around each head are arranged green 
leaves with their tops cut off just as you see them around 
the real vegetable. 

Cone Card-Rack 

Save one of your fine, large-sized, wide-open cones and 
make a card-rack of it like the one shown in the photo- 
graph Fig. 123. 




Fig. 123 - Card rack and pin box ooniblned. 



Buckeye Horse and Buckeye Rider 107 

You must have a small, round or square wooden box 
for the base and glue the flat bottom of the cone on the 
lid. The box can be filled with small brass clips for hold- 
ing sheets of paper together, or with pins, and it will then 
make a fine birthday or Christmas present for some one. 
The cone card-rack is very useful on a writing-desk. 

If you make a number of these cone-racks they will be 
something new for your next fair. Remember to stick 
some pretty cards in each rack. 

Christmas-Tree Ornaments 

Perhaps you would like to keep some of your cones for 
Christmas-tree ornaments; they make very pretty ones. 

Gild several until they shine like gold, then silver others, 
and they will look as if covered with white frost. If you 
have collected any of the prickly sweet-gum balls that 
look as if they were carved in little starry patterns, gild 
and silver these, too, and let them dangle from the tree 
on long gilt or silver cords. 

These natural, outdoor ornaments are not easily broken, 
and may be kept from year to year for your Christmas 
tree. 



CHAPTER XX 

BURDOCK-BURRS 

The Little House of Burrs 

Now let us build a little woodsy house of burrs (Fig. 1 24) 
and put it in a Httle garden. Gather two heaping hand- 
fuls of large-sized burdock-burrs, small ones are not strong 
enough, and begin building. These burrs grow on a bush; 
they are about the size of a marble, are almost round, are 
prickly, and are pinkish at the top. 

Make the roof first (Fig. 125). Stick ten or twelve burrs 
together in a row with pink heads all pointing in the same 
direction. Place this row on a flat, smooth surface, a 
board, flat stone, table, or, perhaps, the hard earth, and 
attach another row of burrs along the side edge of the first 
row. Continue to add more burrs until you have six or 
seven rows fastened into one flat piece. 

Be sure that this piece does not bulge out or sink down 
in places, for the roof must be perfectly fiat. Make the 
two side walls (Figs. 126 and 127) and the back wall of 
the house as you made the roof; the back wall must be 
the length of the roof and the height of the side walls (Fig. 
128). The side ^alls must each fit on the ends of the roof 
and be high enough to look well. 

The front wall of the house must have a doorway and 
a window (Fig. 129). But first make it solid, exactly like 
the back wall and exactly the same size, then lay it down 
on the flat surface that you are using for a table, and open 
a hole for the doorway by taking out five or six burrs, 
counting from the bottom up, and two or three burrs, 
counting from side to side. That will make about ten or 

108 



Burdock-Burrs 



109 



twelve burrs to be removed. Take out the burrs for the 
window and make the opening three or four burrs high and 
two burrs wide. (See Fig. 129). 

Use four burrs for each side of the hollow square chim- 
ney (Fig. 130), which is open at top and bottom. 







Pig. 124 - The little wooasey house of Burdock-burs with 
ornamental trees of grass. 



To put the different parts of the house together lay the 
roof down fiat and stick the edge of the back wall on top 
of tjie outer row of burrs which forms one of the long edges 
of the roof. Fasten one side wall on one short edge of the 
roof in the same way and press the edge of the back wall 
and the edge of the side wall together, making the corner 
firm and square. Next attach the second side wall, and 
lastly fit in the front wall. 



'Clef- A. 








Fig. 125 - Roof of house of Btirs. 



Pig. 130 - Chimney-of 
house of Burs. 





Ki'mf<ifi''A^^i^t^iilt^''AP/t4^-f^t^^i'^i>lVtW<i'ld'>r'i^ 



Pig. 126 - Side wall of 

house of Burs. Fig. 138 - Back wall of house of Burs. 




r\^^<^^fvi=f^>v(^^tmx\ 



PlR.127 - Side wall of 

house of Bvirs. Pig. 129 - F^ont wall of house of Burs. 



Burdock-Burrs 



111 



Now lift the house carefully, place it right side up on the 
ground, and adjust the chimney to the roof. As you work 

keep the picture of the 
house in front of you so 
that you may see at a 
glance whether you are 
building it correctly or 
not. If you cannot find 
large burrs, let the sides 
and the roof of the house 
be two layers of burrs 
stuck firmly together. 
Make a path leading up 
to the door of very small 
shells, sand, or fresh earth. 

Pond, with Water-Lilies, 
in the Garden 

Would you Hke to have 
a little pond near the 





Fig. 131 - Cat-tall for little 
pond made of Timo thy r Grass. 



Pig, 132 - Cat- tail held upright 
by Burdock-burs. 



house, with white water-lilies floating on its surface and wee 
cattails growing here and there in and near the water's edge ? 



112 



Seed-Vessels 



You can easily make such a pond. Sink a shallow pan 
in the ground, a hole must be dug to fit it, you know, and 
fill the pan with water. Cover the edges with moss or earth 
and plant short-stemmed heads of timothy-grass (Fig. 131) 
and slender, stiff grass-blades in scattered groups near 



- — ^^- 



Pig. 133 - The play Water-Lily made 
of a White Clover floating 
on water. 




Fig. 134 - (Jul leaves for the water lilies from a Maple leaf 
as shown here. 



the water. It is timothy-grass that looks so much like 
cattails, and also the grass called foxtail. 

Some of the cattails can be made to look as if they were 
growing in the pond if you make a flat-bottomed ball of 
burrs around the ends of the stems to hold them upright 
(Fig. 132), and put some small stones on top of the ball 
to weight it down in the water. 

For the little water-lilies select perfect white clover- 
blossoms (Fig. 133), and for the leaves, or lily-pads, use 



Burdock-Burrs 113 

any rather small, smooth, round leaves. The marsh-mari- 
gold leaf will answer, or you can cut out water-lily leaves 
from oak or maple. Make them the shape of the pattern 
Fig. 134. The pattern here is laid on a maple-leaf ready 




Pig. 135 - Pea-pod Canoe. 

to cut out a leaf for the water-Kly. Make a number of 
Hhes and float them and the leaves on top of the water. 

A Pea-Pod Canoe 

You might add a pea-pod canoe (Fig. 135), with a tiny 
American flag standing proudly erect at the bow. 

When you make the canoe, open the pod where you see 
the dotted line in Fig. 136. To keep the pod open make 
little braces of broom-straws, and put them in crosswise 





Pig. 136 - Cut open the pea-pod along dotted line, 

with one end against each side of the canoe. There are 
four braces in the canoe (Fig. 135), but you may not need 
that many. 



114 



Seed-Vessels 



The Trees 

In the picture given here the tree on the left of the little 
house of burrs is just two stalks of the common grass called 
meadow muhlenbergia, which are held up as if really grow- 
ing, by several green burrs left from building the house. 
The burrs are squeezed up tight to the grass-stems and 




Pig. 137 - Burdocic-T)ur target. 



then pressed down tight to the ground. You can find the 
grass for these trees almost any place; it is very social and 
loves to make its home with other grasses. 

The graceful, drooping tree on the right of the house 
is made of the grass called brome-grass. Keep your eyes 
open and you will find it some time while playing out-of- 
doors. As soon as you see it, run to the brome-grass and 
whisper its name. You will be glad to discover it and 



Burdock-Burrs 



115 



will remember its name afterward whenever you see the 
grass. 

Look at the picture again and notice the odd plants near 
the brome-grass tree. Their name is Bermuda-grass. See 
how they spread out their long, slender fingers. They look 
very much like a grass named the small crab-grass, and 
another the large crab-grass, 
and like another still called 
the wire-grass ; but if you put 
all these side by side and ex- 
amine them closely you will 
see how they differ. 

Burdock-Burr Game 

Besides making things of 
burdock-burrs, you can play 
a game with them. The game 
is something like archery, 
only, instead of shooting ar- 
rows at a target, you throw 
burrs at it. 

Get a good-sized piece of 
woollen cloth or some kind 
of material with a rough sur- 
face to which the burrs will 
cling. Tack this up on the 
fence or on a board; then, 
with a large piece of chalk 
that will make a wide mark, 

draw four circles, one inside the other like Fig. 137. It 
doesn't matter if your circles are not perfect. Do the 
best you can and finish your target. Number the spaces 
between the circles i, 2, 3, 10. The outer space is i, the 
next, 2, next to the centre 3, and the centre 10. The cen- 
tre, being the bull's-eye, counts most. 




Pig, 138 1- Hold the bur this way 
when you throw It at the 
target. 



116 Seed-Vessels 

Have ready a lot of burrs for each player; mark a 
boundary- line on the ground, beyond which no one must 
step in throwing the burrs, and, standing at the boundary- 
line, let each player in turn throw three burrs at the target. 
The burrs that stick to the target make the score if they 
are in the numbered spaces. Fig. 138 shows how to hold 
the burr. Suppose one burr sticks to the space numbered 
2, and the two others are in number i, the player would 
then have two ones and one two which, added together, 
make four; her score then would be four. 

Always pull the burrs of one player off the target before 
the next player takes her turn, and there will be no ques- 
tion as to who should claim them. After each player has 
had three turns, let every one add up her scores. The 
player who has the highest wins the game. If divided 
into sides, the players on the side having the highest score 
are the winners and they should be given a hearty cheer 
by the losing side. Even very httle girls and boys should 
learn to be good losers and to help celebrate the victory 
of others. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THINGS TO MAKE OF ENGLISH-WALNUT SHELLS 

Nuts are the seed-vessels of the nut-trees; did you ever 
think of that ? They do not grow only that we may have 
something deHcious to eat. They ripen and fall on the 
ground, where some of them take root and grow up into 
trees themselves. If you plant a hickory-nut a little 
hickory-tree should come up, and it will if the conditions 
are all right. If you plant a walnut it will be a walnut- 
tree that will appear; so you see a nutshell is the seed- 
vessel of the nut-tree. 

English walnuts do not grow wild in this country, but 
are cultivated here and you all know what the EngHsh 
walnut is like. Our American walnut is very hard to crack ; 
its shell is rough and deeply grooved, but the EngHsh- 
walnut shell is smooth and without sharp edges, though its 
surface is uneven. There is a shallow groove running round 
the shell, like a seam, and the shell cracks open along this 
seam evenly and easily. 

To Open an English Walnut 

The easiest way to open an EngHsh walnut so that 
the shell will be in two perfect halves is to push the tip 
of a penknife-blade into the groove at the large end of 
the nut, and then slowly and carefully turn the knife to 
pry the halves apart. When opened this way the shell 
is never broken (Fig. 139). 

After you have opened several nuts and taken out the, 

117 



118 Seed-Vessels 

kernels, use the knife to cut away the thin, papery divi- 
sions inside the shells. You will then be ready to make 

The Professor 

and one half -shell is to be his head. Draw a face on the 
shell like the face of the professor (Fig. 140). The narrow 
part of the shell is his chin, the wide part, the top of his 




Pig. 139 - This l3 the way to open the shell. 



head. He has an intellectual forehead, high and broad, 
with furrows of thought showing plainly on it. 

The Professor's Robe 

As a rule professors wear black robes when they wear 
any, but our nutshell professor wears white because it is 
more becoming to his dark complexion, and because it 
is more effective and draws attention to him. 



120 Seed-Vessels 

To make the robe, fold an oblong piece of white paper 
into a square, which makes the square double. The edges 
should measure about four inches. If you have a large 
white envelope cut off one end to make it square and use 
that. Fold the square diagonally across from point to 




Pig, 142 - The Nutshell Mouse. 

y''''^\ point, as is shown by the dotted 

f J line in Fig. 141. Now turn 

V / back first one side point, then 

j[ f the other side point, and make 

„ ^ , them meet over the first fold to 

Fig. 143 - Ear for the mouse. r ^'^ 

form a fanlike pleat, wider at 
the bottom than at the top. 
The dotted lines on either side of the middle one in Fig. 
141 show where the folds should come. The middle fold 
is bent out, or toward you; the side folds are bent in, or 
away from you. The side points now extending toward 
you are the wide, flowing sleeves of the professor's gown. 

Take the robe in your hand at the bottom point, hold- 
ing it from the back, and on the top point hang the pro- 
fessor's nutshell head (Fig. 140). 

While the head balances quite securely on the point, 
you can make it wag from side to side, make it shake and 
tremble when the professor grows very earnest in his dis- 
course, and make the chin thrust itself forward when he 



English-Walnut Shells 



Ul 



is emphatic. You do all this merely by shaking and tip- 
ping the paper robe. He is an amusing little lecturer, this 
EngHsh-walnut shell professor, and seems very much alive. 

English- Walnut Shell Mouse 

It is a far cry from a lecturer to a little mouse, yet one 
English-walnut shell will make both, half a shell for each. 

This is a nice, cosey-looking little 
mouse who crouches down com- 
fortably and does not show his 
legs (Fig. 142). 

The point of the shell is the 
nose of the mouse; above it make 
two round, black eyes and then 
paste on two brown-paper ears. 
Cut the ears like Fig. 143, bend 
back the Httle stems at the bot- 





Plg.144 - The Nutshell Thlrtble Box. 



Pig. 145 - Tie a rlbbor 
around the nut. 



tom, put a touch of paste on each stem and stick the 
ears to the mouse's head in the position shown in Fig. 
142. Cut a piece of string about three inches long for 
the tail and paste one end of it on the inside edge of the 
shell at the large end. 



122 Seed-Vessels 

If you make three of these mice and glue them to a piece 
of cardboard they will look very cunning. Or you can 
glue one mouse to a small card and use it for the top of a 
Christmas pen-wiper. 

English- Walnut Shell Thimble-Box 

A pretty way to give a small present at Christmas or 
on a birthday is to put it into an English-walnut shell box. 
A thimble fits in the box. beautifully (see Fig. 144). 

Open the shell of an English walnut in the way described 
(Fig. 139). Cut away the inside partitions and, with jewel- 
ler's cotton, make a soft little bed in one-half of the shell. 
Press down the cotton in the middle to make a hollow, and 
in this hollow fit the new thimble. Put a layer of cotton 
over the top of the thimble and tuck in the edges. The 
way to close the box is to cover the edges of the other half- 
shell with glue and then fit it on the half that holds the 
thimble, just as it was before you opened it. 

Now you have a whole nut again, but the meat inside 
is very different from that which you took out. You can 
gild the nutshell after the glue has hardened or leave it 
as it is. Its own brown color is pretty enough. In either 
case you must have a piece of narrow ribbon to tie around 
the box and form a loop by which to hang it (Fig. 145). 

Pass the ribbon under the small end of the nutshell, then 
bring it up and tie it securely at the top of the large end. 
The ribbon should not be over the seam but should pass 
across the middle of each half-shell. It will then hold the 
two parts together and keep the glue from loosening. After 
the ribbon is tied at the top of the nut, make a long loop 
above it and tie again in a bow-knot. 



PART VI 
VEGETABLES 



CHAPTER XXII 

THINGS YOU CAN MAKE OF LIMA BEANS 

Vegetables are good to eat, certainly, and you know 
what they are Hke when cooked and on the dinner- table; 




Pig, 146 - The Lfraa Bean Pish will swim. 




^^ 



Pig. 147 - The pod for the fish must te open at the bottom. 

but many are also good to play with. You can make fine 
toys of them, toys that are entirely different from any you 
have ever seen. Here is the 

Swimming Fish Made of a Lima-Bean Pod 

A fish that really swims, not on top of the water but in 
it, is the Httle fish (Fig. 146). You won't find that in a 

123 



124 Vegetables 

shop or anywhere else, for I have only just discovered how 
to make it myself. 

A paper tail and two paper fins must be added, but that 
won't take five minutes when you know how to do it. The 

tail and fins make it wonderfully 
Ufelike, for when the fish swims 
around in a big basin or dish-pan, 
the tail sways this way and that, 
the fins move back and forth ex- 
actly as they do on a Hving fish 
Pig. 148 - The fin of Bean- in a real lake or in the great ocean. 

Choose a good, firm bean-pod, 
one as flat and even as you can 
find, open it carefully along the straight edge and take 
out the beans. Save the beans, for you can make some- 
thing of them too. Do not let the pod close again after 
the beans are out. It must be open about half an inch, 





Pig. 149 - Tall of Bean-pod Pish. 

or maybe a little more, at the middle. You can widen 
the opening by pushing your finger in. Be careful not to 
split it along the upper edge. It should be like Fig. 147, 
which shows the opening at the bottom. 
With the small blade of a pocket-knife make a slit on 



Things You Can Make of Lima Beans 125 

each side of the pod at the large end where it is marked 
C in Fig. 147. 
These slits are to hold the fins. Directly on the curved 




Fig. 150 - The Lima Bean Man will stand. 

edge of the small end of the pod, at the place marked D, 
cut another short slit. Don't let it reach the lower edge. 
This is to hold the tail. 

From writing-paper, not the very heavy kind, cut two 
fins like Fig. 148. Double the paper and cut out both at 



126 



Vegetables 



once so that they may be exactly aHke. From the same 
kind of paper cut the tail like Fig. 149. All you have to 
do now is to push the sharp point of one paper fin into the 
sHt on one side of the pod, the other fin into the sHt on the 
other side of the pod, and the sharp point of the tail into 
the slit in the edge of the pod, and there is your fish. You 
see the fins and tail are not pasted on and they really seem 



k^^^CK^ 




\/v\^T^ 




Pig. 151 - Parts of Lima Bean Mam., 



a living part of the fish. Notice that the top of fins and 
tail are different from the bottom, and be sure to have the 
top edge up when you put them in the sHts. 

The way to make the lima-bean fish swim is to place 
it, open edge down, in a large basin of water; then with 
a stick or spoon begin at the centre to stir the water gently 
and gradually round and round until it all moves faster 
and faster, and keeps on moving after you stop stirring. 
Then your little green fish will swim. Round and round 



Things You Can Make of Lima Beans 127 

the basin he will go, his tail waving and his fins moving 
so naturally you will shout with delight. 

If at first the fish insists upon turning over on his side 
and floating about like a dead fish, don't give him up. He 
is only playing 'possum. He can swim and he will if you 
are patient and keep setting him upright until he gains his 
balance and becomes used to the water. Remember to put 
the fish in the water, not on top. 

Don't let the beans, that you have taken out of the pod 
when making the fish, get dry and hard. They can 
be turned into a 

Lima-Bean Man 

Three beans and several strong, straight broom-straws 
you will need for making this comical little fellow, who, 
upright and independent, stands squarely on his own feet. 
That is a good thing for any one to do, let alone a little 
bean man (Fig. 150). 

The beans should be of different sizes. A large one for 
the body, next in size for the feet and a smaller one for 
the head. Some beans have a little point that stands out 
on one edge and looks like a tiny nose, while below it there 
is a round hollow that looks like a little open mouth. That 
is the kind of bean to choose for the Httle man's head. 

The broom-straw for Mr. Bean's arms should be quite 
four inches long, if he is to be four inches tall. Cut one 
end of this broom-straw slanting to a point like E in Fig. 
151, and push the point through the upper part of the body 
bean and out far enough on the other side to make the 
arms of equal length; then bend one arm up at the middle 
where the elbow should be, and the other arm down as 
you see them in the drawing of the man (Fig. 150). 

The broom-straws for the legs must be two and a half 
inches long and cut pointed at both ends, for one end of 
the leg is pushed into the lower part of the body bean and 



128 Vegetables 

the other end into the half bean which is the foot. Split 
the foot bean in half to make two feet and push the leg 
straw into the rounded side. The flat side is the bottom 
of the foot. 

A short piece of broom-straw, hardly an inch long, is 
the neck. Cut this straw pointed at each end, push one 




Pig. 152 - The beans are not taken out of the pod for 
the Lima Bean Pig. 



end into the top of the body bean and the other end into 
the lower part of the head bean. Use one-half of the outer 
skin, that comes off the foot bean when you split it, for 
a hat. Being curved like a rose-petal, it fits the head very 
nicely, but a drop of paste on the little man's head will 
make it more secure. 

Your lima-bean man may be a farmer and own 

A Lima-Bean Pig 

— a funny pig with fat sides and a turned-up snout (Fig. 

152). 

Look over all your bean-pods that still have beans in 
them, and select the one shaped most like Fig. 153. Do 
not take the beans out of the pod; they make the pig fat 
and solid. The stem end forms the snout and the head. 



Things You Can Make of Lima Beans 129 

Cut four broom-straws about one and a half inches long 
for the legs. Sharpen each of these straws at one end and 




Pig, 153 -Choose a bean-pod shaped like this for your pig, 



push the pointed end into the lower part of the body, two on 
each side, in the places shown by small rings on Fig. 153. 

From part of another 
bean-pod cut two ears 
like F, Fig. 154, and pin 
them on the pig's head 
with a short straw as 
they are shown in the 
picture of the pig. Run 
the straw through one 
ear near the bottom, 
through the head and 
then through the other 
ear on the other side of 
the head. 

Pull a narrow strip 
from the edge of a bean- 
pod for the tail (G, Fig 154). Curl it by drawing it lightly 
over the blade of the scissors. Punch a small hole with the 
point of the scissors in the upper edge of the pig's back 
at the place marked by the arrow on Fig. 153, and push 
one end of the tail into the hole. Make small round dots 
with a pencil, or pen and ink, for the eyes. The ears and 
tail may be made of paper if you find that easier to use. 




Pig. 154 - Make these of a bean-pod 
or of paper. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

SWEET-POTATO ALLIGATOR AND WHAT TO MAKE OF 
A RADISH 

If you have ever seen an alligator, a long- tailed sweet 
potato will make you think of one immediately. 

Fig. 155 is a baby alligator with a sweet-potato body 
and paper head and legs. It is just the size of the little 
alligators they sell for pets down in Florida. That is, the 




Pig. 155 - The Baby Alligator made of a Sweet Potato. 




Plg.156 - Find a potato shaped like this for the alligator. 



alhgator from which the drawing was made is the size of 
the live ones; the drawing is, of course, smaller. 

Find a potato shaped like Fig. 156. Cut a slit in the 
large end and two slits on each side where you see them 
in Fig. 156. When you make the side slits push your knife 
in with the blade slanting upward and backward for the 

130 



Sweet-Potato Alligator and a Radish 131 

front legs, and slanting downward and backward for the 
back legs. This will allow the paper legs to slide in with- 
out bending. 
Use brown paper, as near the color of the potato as you 




Pig, 157 - Make the alligator's Ijiead like this. 




Pig. 158 - Cut tiro front legs by this 
pattern. 

Pig. 159 •^ Make the two hind legs by 
thld pattern. 



can get, for the alligator^s head and legs. Make the head 
like Fig. 157, cutting along the heavy lines and bending 
along the dotted ones. Bend down the sides of the head 



132 



Vegetables 



and of the rieck, then bend the head first up, then down, 
to Kft it above the neck (Fig. 155.) 
The eyes of a baby alKgator are large and prominent. 




Pig. 160 



The ftadlsh Imp is a decorative 
littile fellow. 



Draw them on the head as you see them in Fig. 157. That 
is as near as we can come to the real eyes. 

Cut out of the same paper used for the head two fore 
legs like Fig. 158, and two hind legs like Fig. 159. Slide 
the fore legs into the slits nearest the large end of the potato 



Sweet-Potato Alligator and a Radish 133 



and the hind legs into the shts near the tail. Push the 
point of the paper neck into the sHt at the large end of the 
potato. That finishes the baby alligator, which is won- 
derfully true to life. 

What to Make of a Radish 

A crisp, fresh, clean radish is very tempting, but don't 
eat it this time; turn it into some- 
thing else by the magic your ten 
fingers can work. 

The Radish Imp 

Fig. 1 60 shows a round white 
radish which, with its long, slender 
root and leaves still on it, has been 
changed into a queer Httle radish 
imp by using strong broom-straws 
to stiffen his leaf arms, his leaf legs, 
and his leaf body. His eyes are bits 
of broom-straw, his mouth is a slit 
with a broom-straw tongue, and his 
absurd, stand-out ears are also pieces 
of stout broom-straw. 

The root growing out of the top 
of his head is like a Chinaman's 
queue standing on end with little, 
crinkly separate hairs at its base. 

When you make your radish imp 
cut two broom-straws about four 

inches long for his arms; point these at the ends. Cut 
two more strong broom-straws a Httle longer than the 
distance between the radish and the tips of the two long- 
est leaves. Point these at both ends (Fig. 161). Now 
choose two leaves of even length, nearest the radish, for 
the arms. Don't take them off but push a broom-straw 



A 






h 




















U- 






Q 






1 


1 




s 


< 




tU 






J 


ui 




E 


)5 




t- 


d 




o: 


^ 











u. 













Pig. 161 - Cut two broom- 
straws for the arras ancl 
two for the legs. 



134 



Vegetables 



through each leaf, first in, then out, then push the other 
end of the straw into the thick part of the stems just under 
the radish. Look at Fig. i6o and see how this is done. 

The leaves with the longest stems must be used for the 
legs. If there are more than two long-stemmed leaves, 




Pig. 162 - mihite Mouse. 





iPlg.163 - These' belong to the mouse. 



cut off all except those wanted for the legs. Bend the long, 
stout broom-straws at one end, as in Fig. i6i, and push 
the other end up through the thick part of the stems and 
into the radish; then with a piece of string or strong blade 
of grass tie the stems of the leaves to the straws, as shown 
in Fig. 1 60. This forms a little belt at the waist-line. Leave 



Sweet-Potato Alligator and a Radish 135 

a large leaf with short stem loose at the back for a cape 
and run the bent ends of the long straws in and out of the 
leaves intended for the feet. 

Cut a curved slit in the radish for a mouth and push 
in a small piece of broom-straw for a tongue, then put in 
bits of straw for eyes, nose, and uplifted ears. 

A White Mouse 

You can make a most amusing little white mouse of a 
white radish; not a round one like that used for the imp, 
but egg-shaped, like Fig. 162. The long root is the tail 
of the mouse and the other end of the radish is his head. 
Cut two paper ears hke H, Fig. 163. Make two slits in the 
head and slip the pointed ends of the ears into the slits. 

For whiskers (all mice have whiskers) find two sprays 
of fine branching broom-straws (I, Fig. 163), cut them 
the proper length, and push a spray into the head on each 
side of the nose. Put bits of broom-straw in for eyes and 
then cut four thick straws like J, Fig. 163, and push the 
pointed ends slantingly in the lower part of the radish for 
the feet of the mouse. His legs are not seen because he 
is crouching. The drawing of the mouse shows where to 
put the feet. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

GREEN-PEA TOYS AND A GREEN-PEA DESIGN 

Press your thumb on the rounded edge of a fresh, fat 
green pea-pod, and, pop ! it goes splitting open at the top. 
Then push your thumb into the opening, run it down the 
pod and the two halves separate, showing a row of fine, 
large peas that look like great green pearls in a soft, silk- 
lined case made expressly for them. 




Plg.164 - The Green Pea Greenles, cousins of the Brownies.. 

You have done this ever so many times when helping 
mother, haven't you? And you know that the next thing 
to do when the pod is open is to run that same little thumb 
down again and scoop out all those round green peas, let- 
ting them fall with a patter into the pan in your lap. 

Now as a reward for such helpfulness suppose you ask 
mother or the cook to give you a good big handful of 
peas which have not been shelled, and ask also for some 
wooden toothpicks such as are used in the kitchen for fast- 
ening meat together; or a number of nice, straight, strong 

136 



Green-Pea Toys and a Green-Pea Design 137 

broom-straws if there are no wooden toothpicks. Take all 
these out on the porch if the day is fine and sit down com- 
fortably to make the remarkable things which I am going 
to tell you how to make. It is a good plan to have a box 
and its cover to hold the shelled peas and their pods, but 




35RESb 



Tig. 165 - Parts of the Greeny Girl and how to put them together. 



it does not really matter except that the round peas are 
apt to roll away and get lost if you put them in your lap. 



The Greeny Girl 

The little green-pea greenies, cousins of the brownies, 
shown in the illustration are funny, aren't they? But 
the drawing is not as funny as the real greenies, and you 
can make them in all sorts of absurd positions. 

Two Uttle men and a widely smiling greeny girl are given 
here (Fig, 164). The large green peas that come late in 
the season are used to make these little people. In fact, 
it is only the large peas that can be used for any of the 



138 Vegetables 

things described. Fig. 165 shows how the greeny girl is 
put together. Her arms, legs, and neck are made of broom- 
straws. Her body and head are green peas. Her dress is 
one end of a pea-pod and her feet are bits of a pea-pod cut 
the shape you see in Fig. 165. 

First cut short pieces of broom-straws for the legs and 
point them at both ends so that they will be easy to push 
into the peas and pods. Cut another piece the same length, 
pointed at the top end for the support. Push the legs and 
support into the large pea used for the body as you see 





Pig. 166 - Begin the tent In Pig. 167 - The Greenles' Pea- 
this way. pod tent. 



them in Fig. 165. Now cut another piece of broom-straw 
pointed at both ends for the neck and push one end into 
the pea you have selected for the head. 

Cut off the stem of a large pea-pod, leaving the little 
leaves at the top, which were the calyx of the pea-blossom, 
for a collar, and then cut the pea-pod dress the proper length 
to fit the little woman. When that is done put the dress 
on over the headless body and push the lower end of the 
broom-straw neck in at the top, down through the collar, 
and into the pea which forms the body. With a pin make 
a hole on each side just under the collar and push a broom- 



Green-Pea Toys and a Green-Pea Design 139 

straw arm in each of the armholes you have made. Bend 
one straw in the middle, as in Fig. 165, to give the bent 
elbow. 

Last of all cut two three-cornered feet like the one in 
Fig. 165 from a pea-pod and push a foot on the end of each 
leg. Turn the toes in and the Httle figure will look very 
comical. To give her a face, dip a pen in black ink and 
make two round eyes in the head, a round nose, and a wide 
mouth turned up at the corners. The pen must be pushed 
through the skin of the pea to do this. When the greeny 
girl stands up, her dress hides the support at the back so 
that it cannot always be seen, and she looks as if she stood 
on her two feet just as you stand on yours. 

The Greeny Men 

The illustration (Fig. 164) shows how the greeny men 
are put together. The little dancing fellow must have 
two supports because one foot is lifted. The tiny ridiculous 
cap on the head of the other man is the httle cap that 
holds the pea to the pod and sometimes clings to the pea 
after it is shelled. 

Pea-Pod Tents 

The greenies' little tents are made of pea-pods and it 
takes three pods for each tent. After you have taken out 
the peas split the pods up along the back edge, but leave 
the two halves fastened together at the stem. Stand up 
two pods by pushing the stem end of one pod between the 
two halves at the top of the other, as they are shown in 
Fig. 166. Then separate the halves of the third and longest 
pod and place it astride the first two (Fig. 167). This will 
make quite a strong tent, and, if you like, you can have 
a whole camp of them. 



140 Vegetables 

The Green-Pea House 

The greenies need not always live in tents. Like other 
people, they can have houses as well. 

It is best to use the wooden toothpicks in making the 
house. They are stronger than broom-straws and all the 
same length. Begin by putting the front of the house to- 
gether. Make the peak first. Choose a large pea, push 
the end of a toothpick into it, then not far from that push 





Pig. 168 - Begin the peak In Pig. 169 - Stick a pea on the 
this way. lower ends of each tooth- 

pick to finish the peak. 



in the end of another toothpick slantingly so that the lower 
ends will be separated as you see them in Fig. i68. On 
each of these lower ends stick a pea like Fig. 169. That 
is the peak for the roof. Now make a long upright for 
each side by using a pea to join two sticks (Fig. 170), and 
push the upper end of each upright into the peas at the 
lower ends of the peak (Fig. 171). 

Shorten two toothpicks by breaking half an inch off 
each of them, then join them as you did the uprights by 
pushing one end of each stick into a large pea (Fig. 172). 
This is the front joist or crosspiece of the upper floor 
of the house, and you must fit it in between the two up- 
rights of the front by pushing the ends of the crosspiece 
into the peas at the middle of the uprights (Fig. 173). 

The back of the house is made in the same way with a 
third upright added which runs down through the middle 




o 



Pig. 170 - The long 
upright . 



O 



Fig. 171 - Add the uprights 
to the peak. 



Pig. 172 - This is the front 
joist. 




o 



o 



o 




Pig. 173 - Pit the joist in 
between the two uprights Pig. 174 - The back of the house. 



142 Vegetables 

from the point of the peak to the bottom of the house. 
This third upright is made by shortening two toothpicks 
and joining them with a pea, then fitting them in between 
the pea at the top of the peak and the pea at the middle 
of the crosspiece. A whole toothpick with the upper end 




Pig. 176 - The Greenies' little house. 

pushed into the lower part of the pea at the middle of the 
crosspiece finishes the long upright (Fig. 174). 

When the front and back are made all there is to do to 
finish the frame of the house is to put in the crosspieces 
to hold them together. Fig. 175 shows all these cross- 
pieces or joists. One crosspiece between the two peas at 
the top of the front and back peaks for the ridge-pole (K, 



Green-Pea Toys and a Green-Pea Design 143 



Fig. 175), one on each side between the peas at the bottom 
of the peaks (L and M) , one at each side between the peas 
at the ends of the front and back 
crosspieces (N, O), and one be- 
tween the two peas at the middle of 
the front and back crosspieces (P) . 
Now you have the frame of a 



o 



o 



lg.l77 - The first bar of 
the fence 




Pig. 175 - This Is the frame of 
the house. 



two-storied house or a house 
with only an upper story, but 
it needs a roof and a floor. 
SpHt some of your pea-pods in 
half and lay one at a time 
across the ridge-pole at the 
top and the crosspiece at the 
bottom of the peak. Put half 
of a pod on one side of the 
peak, half a pod on the other 
side of the peak, then another 
half pod on the first side, and 
the next one on the second 
side, and so on until the space 
is covered a^d the house is 
roofed in. The stem ends of 
the pods must be up. The 



stems lock together and hold the 
roof in place. r\ 

Make the loosely laid floor also 
of the spht pea-pods, putting them 
across from front to back. 



O 



o 



Pig. 178 - Push In two 
uprights . 



Your little house (Fig. 176) now (3 
looks like those which strange 
people in far-away, hot countries 
build for themselves. They have 

no lower story or what we call a first floor, but are lifted 
on posts far above the sometimes very damp ground, 



144 



Vegetables 




Fig. 179 - Put in a slanting 
cross piece. 



and out of reach of any wild animals that may be prowl- 
ing around. 

The Fence 

You can make a fence to put around the house in this 
way: Push a large pea on each end of a whole toothpick 

like Fig. 177, then break a tooth- 
pick exactly in half, stick one 
end of each half into the lower 
parts of the peas to form up- 
rights, and push the lower end 
of each of these uprights into 
another pea as shown in Fig. 178. 
For the slanting crosspiece stick 
one end of another toothpick into 
the upper pea at the left-hand side, and the other end 
into the lower pea at the right-hand side (Fig. 179). Add 
a toothpick between the two lower peas, and one section of 
the fence is fin- 
ished (Fig. 180). C I — Q^x. ^ O 
Begin another T^^^:^^ if /" 
section by stick- ^^^ - 
ing one end of a 
toothpick into a 
new pea and the 
other end into 
the upper pea at 
the left side of 
the section you 

have just finished (Fig. 180), then put in half a toothpick 
for the upright, a pea on the bottom of that, a whole 
toothpick for the slanting crosspiece, and another whole 
toothpick for the bottom. 

In this way you can keep on adding section after section 
and make your fence any length. To turn a corner all 




o 



Pig. 180 - The finished section and the way to 
begin a new section of the fence. 



Green-Pea Toys and a Green-Pea Design 145 



you have to do is to push the toothpicks which form the 
upper and lower crosspieces of a new section in at the 
back of the top and bottom peas of an end section of the 
fence. 

The Tropical Plant 

You will notice that in the illustration there is a plant 
growing at the side of the house which looks something 






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7 




S'"''^ 


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-^\ 


© 


i 






© 


^^©e.©^' 


> ®© 


%© 


c©® 




V^ 


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J 





Pig. 181 - Drftw curves like these 
for the design. 



Pig .182 - The Green Pea design 



like a cactus and adds to the tropical, or hot-country look 
of the little greeny people's home. 

Seven half pea-pods are used to make this plant, four 
to stand up and three to He down flat. Wrap and tie the 
stem ends of the four half pods together with a bit of string. 
Push a toothpick for a fiower-stem through the middle 
of the bunch. Cut away the stem of a pea-pod, then cut 
off the calyx, or circle of little leaves, with the knob below 
attached. This is to be the blossom of the strange plant. 
Stick the flower on its toothpick stem, knob down, as you 
see it in the picture. 

To make the plant stand firmly lay the three extra half 
pods down flat with the stem ends one on top of the other 
and the outer ends at equal distances apart, and force 
the toothpick flower-stem through the pods where they 



146 



Vegetables 



cross. These three flat pods make a base which holds the 
rest of the plant upright, while they look as if they were 
a part of it. 

A Pretty Design of Green Peas 

This is not a toy, but you will like to make it just the 
same, and afterward, perhaps, you will want to try an- 
other design all by yourself. If you can draw at all, with 

a soft pencil make some 
curves on a piece of white 
paper like Fig. i8i, only 
ever so much larger, then 
a straight line up from the 
centre. The distance 
between the two largest 
curves at their widest 

/-^ — part should be about eight 

J. inches. If you cannot 

draw these curves, ask 
some older person to do 
it for you. 

Lay your paper with 
the pattern drawn on it fiat on the table before you, shell 
some peas and carefully place them on the pencil lines of 
the curves. Begin with the largest peas at the centre of 
the design and finish with the smallest at the ends of the 
curves. Fig. 182 shows how this is done. Put the first 
pea on the curve at the place shown by the arrow in 
Fig. 181. 

You won't be able to keep the peas in place unless you 
stick them to the paper with paste. Hold the tube of paste 
in your left hand, squeeze out a very little, take it off the 
tube with one of the peas and push the pea, paste side 
down, onto the paper where it belongs. 

When the peas are all placed on the curves open two 




Fig. 183 - Do not open the pods wide. 



Green-Pea Toys and a Green-Pea Design 147 

pea-pods as you did for the greenies' tent, slide one pod 
between the two halves of the other, and with a little paste 
on the stem ends and the tips, fasten them in the middle 
above the curves of peas as they are shown in Fig. 182. 
The two halves of each pod are not opened wide but are 
like Fig. 183. Above the pods, on the straight, upright 
Une, place four more peas, beginning at the bottom with 
a large pea and ending with one much smaller. 

The success of this design will depend upon making one 
side just like the other and in keeping it equally balanced. 
That is, one side must not sag down below the other and 
the pods at the top must fit exactly on the Hne, half on 
one side, half on the other. 

The peas, you see, do not touch each other, but are 
separated by little spaces, and the spaces are all of the same 
length. 



CHAPTER XXV 

CORN-HUSKS AND CORN-COBS 

How to Make American History Seem Real — Our First 
Thanksgiving 

Let us play that we are really celebrating America's 
first Thanksgiving ! 

You can see one of our long, rude puncheon tables spread 
out in the mild, sweet air of Indian summer, laden with 
delectable dishes of clam chowder, oysters, fish, turkey, 
duck, goose, venison pasties, turnips, dumphngs of barley 
flour, corn bread, wheat cakes, pumpkin pies, grapes, plums, 
great flagons of cider, and ''all manner of tasty eats." 

William Bradford, our good governor, with his old flint- 
lock in hand, is just returning from a successful hunt for 
additional wild turkey. We shall need these, as ninety 
friendly Indians are to be our guests for three days and 
nights. Later they, too, will hunt and bring us wild deer. 

Elder Brewster, in his festive doublet and hose, has 
stopped a moment to speak to Master Bradford. Sitting 
at table, you can see Captain Miles Standish with arms 
outstretched in glad welcome as he calls more Indians to 
join the feast, while Massasoit, the mighty chief, stands 
at the table signalling with his arrow for the braves to ap- 
proach. 

Already Quadquina and Hobomok are at the festive 
board, seated between Captain Miles Standish and John 
Alden. Squanto, who tells the boys how to trap game and 
teaches settlers how to plant corn, is resting on the ground 
with his feather-bedecked shield in one hand, and the 
calumet, or pipe of peace, in the other. 

148 



150 



Vegetables 



Now winsome Priscilla Alden comes, bearing on a pewter 
platter one of her savory hot baked turkeys, and her friend, 
Mary Chilton, is watching the delicious stew which simmers 
in the big iron pot over the outdoor fire. 

Mistress Brewster, on her way to cut pumpkin pie, must 




Fig. 184 - Begin to make the pioneer In this way. 



needs stay her steps a moment to give ear to Governor 
Bradford's remarks, and Desire Minter is hurrying forward, 
ahead of the other young women, to serve the men at the 
feast. 
All this would be told you by one of the little corn-husk 
pioneers shown in the photograph if 
only they could speak. 

At all events, they can stand alone. 
They can be made to sit down, too, 
and their arms can be bent in any 
position. You may lift and place 
them in various parts of the grounds 
at pleasure. You might even im- 
agine them to be the real characters 
they represent, and so live over again 
that Thanksgiving of 162 1. 

The making of these little people 

is most interesting. Use the rather 

soft between-layers of corn-husks; about two husks for 

each pioneer. If the husks seem brittle, soak them in 




Pig. 185 - Fold the husks 
across the centre. 



Corn-Husks and Corn-Cobs 



151 



water and make them pliable. Lay one husk partially 
over the top of the other (Fig. 184), bend them across 
the centre (Fig. 185), and let the smoothest side be the 
front of the doll. Fold each side of the front to the back 
until the front somewhat resembles Fig. 186; then wind 





Pig. 186 - The head and 
neck are made. 



Pig. 187 - Wind the waist 
with string. 



Plg.lSS - Arms for the pioneer. 



slender, soft string around to form the neck and head of 
the doll. Wind another soft string around lower down 
for the belt-line (Fig. 187). 

Make the arms of soft corn-husk (Fig. 188) by turning 
the lengthwise edges of the husk inward again and again, 
until the roll is of the desired size. Cut off the ends evenly 



152 



Vegetables 



and wind the arms with string at the centre and near each 
end. 

Run the small blade of a penknife through the shoulders 
of the doll from side to side. Turn the blade fiat side up- 
permost and allow it to remain in this position while you 
slide in the arms and screw them through the opening, 




Pig. 189 - The pioneer is ready for his costume., 



pushing them along on top of the flat side of the blade. 
When in place, withdraw the knife and your little woman 
will be ready for her costume. 

To make the man, cut Fig. 187 up from the bottom to 
within a short distance of the belt, thus dividing the husk 
skirts into two equal parts. Wind each half with string 
at the top, middle, and near the end to form the legs (Fig. 

189). 

Use black tissue-paper for the loose knee-trousers. Cut 




1^ 



■s 




154 



Vegetables 



two strips of the paper, fit one strip over a leg (Fig. 190), 
push the paper up on the inside until it resembles Fig. 191, 
then fasten in place with strong paste. Make the other 





Pig. 192 - Pattern of pioneer's 
collar. 



Pig. 193 - Malce the hair of 
paper fringe. 





Fig. 195 - 61ue the hat 
crown on the man's 
head. 




Fig. 194 - Crovm of pioneer 
hat. 



trouser leg in the same way 
(Fig. 191). 

Cut the coat from a folded 
piece of dull-green tissue- 
paper, and just at the neck 
make a hole large enough for 
the man's head to slip through 
(Fig. 191). Paste the front 

edges of the sleeves over the back edges and lay the front 
edges of the coat over those of the back. Fit the coat in at 
the belt-Kne with your fingers. Cut a black belt of tissue- 
paper, fold it lengthwise, and belt in the fulness of the coat, 
then paste the belt ends together. Be careful to make 



Fig. 196 - How to slash the 
hat brim. 



Corn-Husks and Corn-Cohs 



155 



the belt loose, for men's waists are large. Make the collar 
(Fig. 192) of white paper and fasten it around the man's 
neck with a drop of paste in front. 

From black, brown, or drab-yellow tissue-paper cut a 
strip of fine fringe and paste it on the man's head for hair 
(Fig. 193). Then 
make his hat. To 
do this, roll a small 
square of stiff black 
paper into a cornuco- 
pia to fit the man's 
head, paste the edges 
together, and trim off 
the corner which 
hangs down at the 
bottom (Fig. 194). 
Glue the hat-crown 
on the man's head, 
cut off the sharp top 
peak, and tilt the 
crown back a little 
(Fig. 195). 

Now cut a disk of 
the black paper for 
the hat-brim, slash it 
across the centre into 
four points (Fig. 196), 

but only just far enough to make the opening fit over the 
hat-crown. Slide the brim on the crown, allowing the 
slashed central points to lie up against it, and fasten them 
there with paste (Fig. 197). Glue the pioneer's feet into 
holes cut part-way through a small piece of the corru- 
gated fiat pasteboard used for packing purposes. In this 
way the little man becomes independent and able to stand 
alone (Fig. 197). 




Fig. 197 - The pioneer is fully dressed and 
wearing his hat. 



156 Vegetables 

The corn-husk women also wear tissue-paper clothes. 
The waists are made in the same manner as the men's 
coats, only shorter and confined at the belt-line with paste. 
Straight dress skirts are slipped over the waists, and held 
in place at the belt by winding string around the pinched- 
up gathers. Long, severely plain white aprons, minus 
strings, are pasted to the waist-line, and white-bordered 
black caps and large white three-cornered neckerchiefs 
complete the costume. 

The cap is a straight piece of black tissue-paper with a 
narrow strip of white folded over the front edge. When 
ready, the white-bordered black strip is laid over the head, 
smoothly brought down on the sides, puckered together 
at the back and tied around the neck with a string. You 
have only to clip loose the outside layer of white close to 
the string at the neck-line to give the flare to the cap's white 
border. 

The crisp dress skirt forms sufHcient support to enable 
the little women to stand alone. 

With the exception of Squanto, whose manly chest, 
back, and arms have no covering, the Indians wear suits 
of tan tissue-paper made on the same principle as the white 
men's costume, only the trouser-legs are narrow, long, and 
have the seam cut in fringe and run up on the outside. The 
bottom edge of the coat and the sleeve seams are also 
fringed. The coat is not wide and no belt is worn. 

Pieces of colored tissue-paper adjusted blanket fashion 
over the Indians, and fastened here and there with bits 
of paste to hold them in place, form the Indian blankets. 

The Indians' hair is merely a strip of black tissue-paper 
pasted over the top, back, and sides of the head with the 
ends loosely twisted and allowed to hang down in front on 
either side. 

The war-bonnet is cut from a strip of white writing- 
paper, the tips of the feathers are inked, and one end of 



158 Vegetables 

the strip is then pasted around Massasoit^s head, as shown 
in the picture. 

It is best to make a number of corn-husk people at one 
time. Put the two husks together for each pioneer and 
Indian, then wind a string around the neck of each to form 
the head (Fig. i86). Again tie a string around each at the 
belt-hne (Fig. 187). Continue making the people in this 
way, step by step, until all are finished at the same time. 
Have ready as many arms as you have people, and run the 
arms through each, one after another. 

When bending the arms or legs of the little people do 
it slowly and gently. If they are inclined to spring back, 
tie them in position overnight and they will stay bent. 

When dressing the dolls, cut out all the men's collars 
at one time. You can do this by cutting through as many 
layers of paper as there are men. Adopt the same plan 
with the other parts of clothing for the men, women, and 
Indians, and your work will be rapid. 

With ink draw features on all. The women must have 
ink hair, parted in the middle. 

Remember when making Miles Standish to cut his hair 
of red paper, for he had auburn hair. 

The *'sad" colors worn by the pioneers were really the 
cheerful autumn hues, rich, dull reds, greens, browns, and 
yellows. These will give you quite a variety of colors for 
the costumes of both men and women. 

Make the puncheon table of a flat, narrow piece of wood. 
With a gimlet bore holes through the board, slanting them 
toward the centre, one hole near each corner. Any kind of 
round sticks will do for the legs. Cut them all of the same 
length and glue one in each hole. 

The pewter dishes are made from one of the collapsible 
lead tubes used for oil-paints and various other things. 
Cut open the empty tube and smooth it out flat, then cut 
out round pieces for plates, mould the plates over the tops 



160 Vegetables 

of wooden spools, and the flagons over a pen-handle or 
other round stick. Make the flagon-handles of slender 
strips of the tube bent into rings, and slip one end of the 
strip over the edge of the flagon. 

A piece of yellow paper pasted over the cover of a very 
small baking-powder can makes a pumpkin pie. The 
turkey is merely pinched-up paper with brown tissue- 
paper laid smoothly over the breast. Its wings and legs 



Fig. 198 - Corn-cob log for pioneer log cabin with notches 
cut and marked.' 



are of bits of lighter-colored paper rolled and bent into 
shape, then pasted on the turkey. 

Fresh, green, uncooked corn-cobs from which the corn 
has been cut and scraped make delightful pioneer log- 
houses. Cooked cobs are too hard to cut. Choose slender 
cobs, long ones for the front and back of the house, shorter 
ones for the sides. Cut a notch, or saw it, if the cobs are 
dry and hard, on the tops of the ends of each of the two 
foundation logs (Fig. 198). Cut a notch on both top and 
bottom of each remaining log as indicated by the black 
lines in Fig. 198. 

Always make a larger notch in the small end of the cob 
than in the large end, so that the large end of another cob 
may fit in it; for, when building, it is necessary to place 
small ends and large ends together, and never two large 
ends or two small ends, or the house will be unevenly bal- 
anced. 

Lay the two foundation cobs down parallel to each other 
and a short distance apart; then bridge across the ends 



Corn-Husks and Corn-Cobs 161 

with shorter cobs, fitting the notches into each other. Con- 
tinue building in this log- cabin fashion until the house is 
of sufficient height. 

On the front of the house draw two straight fines down 
across the cobs, one for each side of the doorway. Then 




l?loneer log cabin made of corn-cobs. 

take your house apart and cut the doorway out from the 
marked cobs. Rebuild the house, gluing layer upon layer. 
Make the doorway jambs of straight pieces of corn-stalk, 
and glue them on each side of the open doorway. 
Before the roof can be added, corn-cobs, graduated in 



162 Vegetables 

length and without notches, must be laid at each end of 
the house to support the roof and give it its gable ends. 
These graduated cobs are the "trap-logs." They rest 
upon long strips of corn-stalk, called "ribs," which are 
placed across from one end of the house to the other. 
Build the roof log-cabin fashion as you built the body of 
the house, laying a rib between the ends of each layer of 
graduated cobs, and as you build, fasten the parts together 
with glue. 

Cut enough clapboards of corn-stalk to cover both sides 
of the roof. Make them all of the same length and long 
enough to reach from the top of the roof to a trifle be- 
yond its lower edge. 

The clapboards must be held down by means of "weight- 
poles" laid across, and to keep the weight-poles from rolling 
off use pegs called "knees." 

Make the knee-pegs of corn-stalk. Cut a hole near both 
ends of four of the clapboards and glue in pegs, slanting 
them upward. You will then have two pegged clapboards 
for the front of the roof and two for the back. Place them 
near the ends of the roof and glue all the clapboards in 
place. Cut four slender lengths of corn-stalk for weight- 
poles, and lay them across the roof, resting against the 
knee-pegs. Glue them to the roof only where they buck 
the knee-pegs. When finished, set the house aside until 
the glue is entirely dry. It may then be moved. 

Corn-tassels standing in empty spools make fine trees. 

It is fitting that the story of our country's first Thanks- 
giving should be retold this year by means of corn. You 
remember, of course, that friendly Indians showed the 
pioneers how to plant and cultivate corn, which, to them, 
was a new grain. Later, when a wonderful harvest had 
been gathered, our forefathers decided to set aside a day 
to thank God for His goodness. That was the first Thanks- 
giving. 



PART VII 
FRUIT 

CHAPTER XXVI 

THE FUNNY ORANGE HEAD 

You will hardly believe it is only an ordinary, every- 
day orange when you have made it into the head that I 
am going to tell you about. 

Select a small, firm, perfect orange and with a pencil 
mark features on it, first the eyes like Fig. 199. Care- 
fully cut out the Kttle spaces of skin between the lines, 
then mark the nose (Fig. 200) ; cut this and mark the mouth 
(Fig. 201); cut this and at each side of the head draw the 
ears like Fig. 202. You will see that the line of the ear 
does not continue all the way around; that means that 
you are simply to run your knife along the line, cutting 
through the skin so th^t the ears may be lifted up and 
peeled forward to stand out from the head; the front part 
remains attached (Fig. 203). 

Make the neck of a slender, strong, round stick sharp- 
ened to a point at one end. Push the point up into the 
under part of the orange, where the neck should be, by 
twisting the stick around as it goes in (Fig. 204). 

The orange is the head, but your hand and fingers are 
to be the body and arms to go with it. Look at Fig. 204. 
That will show you how to hold the stick firmly and at 
the same time leave your first finger and thumb free to 
use as arms. 

163 





Plg.lSQ - Eyes marked on orange head. Fig. 200 • Eyes cut, nose marked. 




Pig. 202 - Ear marked, ready to out and 
peel forward. 





Pig. 201 - Nose cut^mov^th marked. 



Pig. 203 - Mouth outwears cut and 
pealed forward. 



The Funny Orange Head 



165 



Pin a handkerchief, or other soft cloth, around Mr. 
Orange's neck, bring it around to cover your hand and 
then pretend he is talking while you move his arms and 
say as many funny things as you can think of. By moving 




Pig. 204 - Hold the orange this way. 



the stick while you hold it in your hand, you can make the 
orange head turn in various ways (Figs. 205 and 206), and 
a little paper hat fitted on it will make it still funnier (Fig. 
207). 

The orange need not always be a man. You can play 
it is a little girl and make a cunning Httle wreath of flowers 



166 



Fruit 



for her small head; or pretend it is a baby and have it 
wear a baby's cap made of paper. If you want to turn it 
into a young lady, pierce the ears and fit in earrings made 
of violets. You do this simply by threading the flower- 
stems through the holes you have pierced, and drawing 




Blg.SOS • "Now I'll tell you a funny story." 



the blossoms up close to them. Then, you can make be- 
lieve the orange is an old man and put a pipe in his mouth. 
Make the pipe of an acorn with a twig for the stem. If 
you want the baby to cry, squeeze the orange a little and 
tears of orange-juice will roll from its eyes and stream 
down its face. Little holes must first be punctured in the 
eyes to let the tears run out. 



The Funny Orange Head 



167 



* Things You Can Make of Orange-Skins 

A TOY JAPANESE STOOL 

The soft, golden orange-skin, lined with silvery white, 
is fine material for moulding and making into different 




Pig. 206 - "Can't remember what I was 
fiolng to Bay." 



kinds of things to play with. Bring your orange and we 
will begin by making a toy stool for your doll-house (Fig. 
208). It will look very much like the real stools which 
the Japanese make for real people to sit on, though nothing 
is used for it but the orange-skin. 



168 



Fruit 



First cut the orange across from side to side, making 
two halves, and after you have taken out the pieces of 
juicy fruit and enjoyed eating them, examine the two pretty 
yellow orange-skin bowls that are left. See how soft and 
pliable they are. Now take one of the bowls and pinch 

the edges of two opposite 
sides toward each other; 
hold them steady while, 
with your other hand, you 
pinch the other two sides 
toward each other. Hold 
all four sides bent inward 
for a moment, then let go 
of them and the sides will 
stay bent while you wind 
string across, first one way 
then the other, between the 
curved stool legs you have 





Flg.SO^ - "What a Joke." 

just made by bending 
the sides of the bowl 
inward. Fig.208 

Set the stool away 
to dry and stiffen into 

shape; then, when it has become hard, take off the string 
and you will have a little Japanese stool quite as strong 
as if made of wood. 



Japanese stool made of half an 
Orange peel. 



The Funny Orange Head 



169 




A CANDY-BOX 

A candy-box can be made in the same way of the other 
half of the orange-skin, but you must curve the sides in 
only a Httle for this; not nearly as much as for the stool. 
Stand the candy- 
boXj.with open part 
up, ready to be 
filled with candy. 

A BASKET 

An orange-skin 
basket is a sub- 
stantial little affair 
when finished, and 
will hold almost 
anything you want 
to put in it. It 
looks like Fig. 209. 
For this you will 
again need half of 
an orange-skin. 
Bend in two oppo- 
site sides after first 

cutting a short slit in each side near the edge. Make 
the handle of strong paper, cutting it like Fig. 210, with a 
tongue at each end. Bend over the two side points of each 
tongue, and slide one tongue through the slit in one side 
of the basket, the other tongue through the slit in the 
other side, then open out the points again and they will 
make secure fastenings for the handle. You will see from 
the illustration that the tongues are put through the basket 
from the inside and show on the outside. 

Before setting away to dry, tie a string around the bent- 
in sides of the basket, and stuff the open part with crushed 
paper to keep it in shape. 



Pig. 209 - -Half of Orange skin used for 
a basket. 



<J 



^ 



Pig. 210"- Make the handle of paper. 



170 



Fruit 



ORANGE-SKIN BOWLS 

When you have another orange save the two halves of 
the skin, pack each full of crumpled, clean, blank paper, 
flatten the bottom of the bowls so that they will stand 

firmly, then set them 
away to dry. 

If you do all this 
carefully the bowls will 
harden in good shape 
and you can use them 
to eat and to drink 
from. 




Pig .,211 - A little stumner House made of 
half of an Orange ^slcin. 



Other Things Made of 
Orange-Skins 

Cunning little toy 
summer-houses niay be 
made from an orange- 
skin in a moment's 
time (Fig. 211). Take 
half of an orange-skin 
and stick the sharp 
ends of four wooden 
toothpicks into the 
edge of its rim. Place the toothpicks upright, at equal 
distances apart, and they will form the pillars to support 
the golden, dome-shaped roof. Stand the little summer- 
house on the table, and you will think it charming. 

By slicing an orange you can have a number of little, 
yellow hoops for your dolls, made of the rind around each 
sHce. When the hoops are carefully dried in perfect circles, 
you can roll them on top of a table or on the floor, and 
play the dolls are having great fun racing with their orange- 
skin hoops. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

APPLES AND APPLE FUN 

When the apple-trees are in bloom, stand under one 
and look up through the wonderful tent of flowers at the 
little bits of blue sky peeping down at you between the 
blossoms. Isn't it dehghtful to see so many, many apple- 
blossoms all at once? How beautiful they are and how 
sweet they smell ! 

Now, pick one little blossom and examine it carefully. 
Count the pretty pink-and- white petals. Five petals? 
Yes. Look again, see how they grow from the centre and 
notice their shape. Be very particular, so that you will 
remember exactly how the blossom looks; make sure you 
know, for I am going to tell you about the flower you can 
find inside the big, ripe apple after all the other apple- 
blossoms are gone. 

Apple-Blossom in Apple 

Cut the apple into thin slices from side to side through 
the core. Take one of the sHces from near the middle of 
the apple and hold it up to the light, so that the light will 
shine through it, then look carefully and you will see in 
the centre a perfect pattern of the apple-blossom you 
gathered from the tree (Fig 212). Apple-seeds form the 
centre of the flower. The petals, five in number, are of 
the flesh of the fruit. They are of the same shape and 
size as the real blossom. Isn't it wonderful? 

Now, take the seeds from their hard, glossy cases, again 
hold the slice up to the light and lo, in the centre of the 

171 




•g, 



3 
§ 

CQ 
01 « 

la 



Apples and Apple Fun 



173 



slice, you will find a five-pointed star which twinkles as the 
light shines through. 

You can add to this and make a pretty, shining pattern 
in this way: Take a wooden toothpick, and with its pointed 
end pierce little holes all along the edge of the flower 
pattern; then make a loop of Httle holes above one of the 




iPlg.2l5 - Another design on apple slice. 

petals (Q, Fig. 213), and still another above that one 
(R, Fig. 213). Pierce the edges of all the petals and make 
the same kind of double loops above them also, then the 
design will be like Fig. 214. Hold it up to the light, turn 
it this way and that and your slice of apple will look as if 
spangled with glittering diamonds. Fig. 215 shows a wheel 
design which you can make of another slice. 



Apple Candle in its Candlestick 

When I was a little girl I used to make apple candles 
that stood up in their own candlesticks. I always ate the 



174 



Fruit 




fresh, juicy slices as I cut them off. Fig. 216 shows how 
the candles look when finished. The stem is the wick, 
and as it is usually dark at the end, it is a very good imita- 
tion of a candle- 
wick that is par- 
tially burnt. The 
dotted lines on Fig. 
217 show how to 
cut away the apple 
to leave the candle 
and its holder. 

First cut off a 
slice at the blos- 
som end, so that 
the candle-stick 



Pijg.216 - Appl& candle ready for table. 



will stand without tip- 
ping. The dotted line 
at the bottom of Fig. 
217 indicates where 
this cut is to be made. 
Then run your knife 
around the apple with- 
out cutting all the way 
through to the core, 
where you see the mid- 
dle dotted line on Fig. 
217. After that, begin 
at the sides and gradu- 
ally shave down the 




Fig. 217 - Cut away apple learlflg oandle 
In eandle-stlcic • 



upper part little by little, being 
careful not to cut below the slit you have made around 
the apple. When the middle part standing up around the 



Apples and Apple Fun 



175 



core is the size of a real candle it is time to stop cutting. 
Because of the core inside you cannot make your candle 
very slender, but you can 
cut off the sharp edges 
and make it round. 

A Roasted Apple 

Another thing I used to 
love to do with my apple 
when I was a little girl 
was to tie a long string 
to the stem and hang it 
before an open fire to 
roast. I think you will 
enjoy it too. 

Tie one end of the 
string securely to the 
stem of your apple, and 
don't break the stem off 
in doing it (Fig. 218); 
then tie the other end to 
something heavy on the 
mantel-shelf that will 
hold it securely. The ap- 
ple should hang in front 
of a grate of glowing 
coals, or near the. red- 
hot coals of a wood-fire. 

As soon as cooking begins, twist the string and make 
the apple spin round and round so that it may be roasted 
evenly on all sides; it is fun to do that. When the juice 
begins to run and drop from the apple, set a saucer under 
to catch the hot, sweet syrup. It is good poured over the 
apple when that is thoroughly cooked. Add sugar to the 
juice while it is hot if it is not sweet enough. 




Pig. 218 - Roast your apple this way.. 



176 Fruit 



The Spice Apple 

In New England, many years ago, there was always 
to be found in every household at least one spice apple. 
It sounds good to eat, doesn't it? But they were not made 
for eating, they were used for sweet-smelling ornaments, 
and for keeping away moths and other troublesome in- 
sects. Perhaps you will like to make a spice apple to give 
away; it will be a pretty and very sweet gift and will last 
for years. 

Choose a small, perfectly sound apple and have ready 
a lot of cloves. Stick the cloves into the apple as you would 
stick pins into a cushion, only the cloves must be put in 
very close together, touching each other and making the 
apple look like a large, prickly, brown nut. That is all, 
unless you want to hang the apple up. In that case run 
a wooden toothpick through one raised side at the top, 
across the little hollow where the stem grows, and out 
through the raised side opposite, after first breaking off the 
stem. Cross this toothpick with another pushed through 
the apple and also bridging the hollow. This will make 
a low handle in the form of a cross. At the middle, where 
the toothpicks touch, tie a bright ribbon, leaving a loop 
by which to hang it. 

Other Things to Make of an Apple 

When an apple is cut across into round slices, you can 
make a doll's table of the largest slice by using four wooden 
toothpicks for legs, pushing them into the apple at equal 
distances apart. Half of a sHce, with halves of toothpicks 
for legs, makes a very suitable seat for this remarkable 
table. 

If you cut a thick fiat slice from a small apple you can 
make it into a top that will spin by pushing a toothpick 



Apples and Apple Fun 177 

through the centre, leaving a long end on one side and a 
shorter end on the other. The short end is the peg upon 
which the top spins. Take the long, upper end of the 
toothpick between your thumb and first finger, give it 
a hard, quick twist and drop the top on a table having a 
hard, smooth finish, where it will spin merrily. The little 
fruit-top will not spin on a carpet or any rough, uneven 
surface. 



THE BEARD BOOKS FOR GIRLS 

By UNA BEARD and ADELIA B. BEARD 

Handicraft and Recreation 
for. Girls 

With, over 700 illustrations by the Autliora 
8vo. $1.50 net 

An elaborate book for girls, by Lina and Adelia Beard 
whose former books on girls' sports have become classic, 
which contains a mass of practical instruction on handi- 
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things it tells how to do and make that it will give occu- 
pation to any sort of girl in all seasons and all weathers. 

" The girl who gets this book will not lack for occupation and 
pleasure." — Chicago Evening Post. 

What a Girl Can Make 
and Do 

New^ Ideas for "Work and Play 

With more than 300 illustrations by the Author* 
Square 8vo. $1.50 net 

This book is the result of the authors' earnest desire to en- 
courage in their young friends the wish to do things for 
themselves. Its aim is to give suggestions that will help 
them to satisfy this wish. Within its covers are described 
a great variety of things useful, instructive, and entertain- 
ing, suited for both indoors and out. 

•* It would be a dull girl who could not make herself busy and 
happy following its precepts." — Chicago Record- Herald, 



THE BEARD BOOKS FOR GIRLS 

The 
American Girl's Handy Book 

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$1.50 net 

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and work, in a clear, simple, entertaining way. 

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How to Do Them 

With some 600 drawings by the Authors that show exactly 

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$1.50 net 

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Little Folks' Handy Book 

With many illustrations 
80 cents net 

This book furnishes the means of gratifying the impulse 
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factor in a child's development. It opens a large field of 
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clothes-pins, old envelopes, etc. 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



THE BEARD BOOKS FOR BOYS 

By DAN C. BEARD 

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Illustrated by the Author $1.25 net 

He gives easily workable directions, accompanied by very 
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ing temporary or permanent shelters in their hikes or en- 
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Boat-Building and Boating 

A Handy Book for Beginners 

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Or, New Ideas for American Boys 

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himself set up in business." — The Indianapolis Journal, 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 




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